


Still Dreaming

by Peeves_MelodyHallows



Category: RWBY, Rosewick
Genre: Angst, Dreamsharing, F/M, Forbidden Love, Humor, L-Luna...you've been here before...save yourself..., Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-11
Updated: 2017-10-15
Packaged: 2018-03-17 08:59:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 30
Words: 76,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3523352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Peeves_MelodyHallows/pseuds/Peeves_MelodyHallows
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ruby's been having odd dreams lately, the kind that she's reluctant to tell her friends about. Little does she know, Roman's been having the same dreams… I am Rosewick trash, sue me. Rated T for now, may become M rated later, depends. Post-Breach AU [since, you know, we don't know what happens next yet]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The First Dream

The First Time it was a Mystery

                Ruby shuffled across the room hesitantly; the dim light shining through the windows outlined the details of a rather tidy bachelor pad—how she had arrived here from her dorm was a mystery. In fact everything up to this point in her memory seemed rather fuzzy, she couldn’t even recall the elevator trip up to this floor (even though the vague view from the windows suggested a high elevation). Ruby shook off her feeling of uneasiness and turned the corner past the living area of the flat into a hall that she soon realized led to the bedroom. How her body had known to turn there was something that she didn’t want to know, especially upon recognizing the occupant of the bed she was walking towards. His signature coat and bowler hat might not have been present, but the bright orange hair and smug expression that somehow remained even in his sleep were enough of an indicator.

_Torchwick._

                Ruby began listing the number of very good reasons for why she should get out of here and call the authorities on him, yet she found herself moving closer to the bed beyond all reason and studying the currently comatose and vulnerable criminal. The black dress shirt he typically wore beneath his jacket had the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, his grey tie was loosened, his shoes were kicked off and his orange hair was somewhat tousled (likely a result of some unconscious shifting on his part). Ruby stood there for a moment watching the sleeping man, before the act of putting yet another foot forward caused a single floorboard to creak, and in seconds Roman had grabbed her by the wrist and flung her to the bed, his eyes still closed as he leaned over top of her.

                “How naughty of you, Red,” he addressed her lazily, his eyes opening slightly to peek at her form, “Sneaking into a man’s bedroom like this…hasn’t anyone ever told you that you need to knock?”

                Ruby growled but didn’t say a word, causing him to chuckle a bit at her anger.

                “How’d you find this place, Red?” Roman leaned a little closer to her face, causing her to let out a small squeak of discomfort.

                “L-Let me go!” Ruby struggled in vain as his hands clamped down harder on her wrists, making no attempt to answer his question—partially out of defiance and partially because she really didn’t know in the first place.

                “Now now, Red, let’s not be hasty, one thing at a time,” Roman smirked and moved her arms above her head so he could hold them with one hand. “I want to know how you got here. Maybe I’ll let you go…if you tell me.”

                “I don’t know, okay?!” Ruby shouted into his face, making him laugh a little louder.

                “You don’t know? Oh come on Red, this place isn’t exactly a hop skip and a jump away from your dorm at Beacon. Surely you have a few clues as to how you got from point A to point B. And in nothing but your jammies, no less.”

                Ruby’s eyes widened and she looked down at herself, noting at once that she was indeed dressed for bed. She glanced back up at Roman, already feeling the heat growing in her cheeks as she averted her gaze once more. She felt him shift on the bed and heard him let out another light chuckle.

                “Oh, you know you’ve found a modest girl when she thinks showing some arm skin is _revealing_. Or are you blushing because it’s me?”

                Ruby held her breath as his fingers grabbed her chin and pulled her gaze back towards him.

                “Is that it? Oh don’t flatter me Red, you might make me blush,” Roman’s smirk widened, “And honestly, this behavior isn’t really fitting for a girl as sinfully innocent as you.”

                “S-Shut up.”

                “Well aren’t you talkative today. You know…” Roman shifted on top of Ruby again, causing her to catch her breath, “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were here for some…adult reasons, what with your state of dress and all.”

                “Gross,” Ruby muttered. “I would neve—“

                “Of course you wouldn’t, Red,” Roman leaned in close enough to brush his lips against hers, soliciting a small whine from the girl.

                _“I know better than that.”_

oooOOOooo

                Ruby woke with a start to the sound of her alarm, her bed creaking and swinging slightly at the sudden movement. It wasn’t as if she was struggling to catch her breath or anything, what she remembered of her dream, despite being lucid, didn’t feel like a nightmare. Odd, and unexpected, considering the content.

                “Ruby? You alright?”

                Ruby glanced down and was met with Blake’s concerned gaze, whose expression was followed suit by Yang’s.

                “Oh, I’m fine,” Ruby smiled, “Just a weird dream, that’s all.”

                “A dream?” Blake repeated.

                “Oooo, what about, sis? Spill!”

                “It was nothing, really, Yang.”

                “Oh, come on, I wanna know!”

                “Yang, I don’t wanna talk about it!”

                “Will you guys be quiet?!”

                Ruby, Blake and Yang turned their attention to Weiss’s bunk, where the girl in question was only just beginning to stir.

                “It’s too early for this!”

                “Sorry Weiss,” Ruby mumbled.

                “It’s already eight o’clock,” Blake murmured.

                “Chill, princess,” Yang muttered.

                Ruby sighed and hopped off her bed. “Let’s get ready for class.” She needed something, anything to keep her mind off Torchwick.

                It was just a dream. That’s all it was.

oooOOOooo

                Around the same time, in an apartment near the center of Vale, a certain criminal was pulling himself out of bed. He leaned his head into his hand as he sat up, in a vain attempt to convince himself that he was hung over, that he had a fever dream, _something_. He must have been drinking last night; that was the only plausible explanation for his dreaming about Red. Dreaming about Red and _enjoying it_. Those two concepts should’ve been forbidden to occupy the same sentence.

                “Ah, Roman, really, get a grip,” he mumbled to himself, “It was only a dream.” Roman rose from the bed and made his way towards his bathroom to start the daily routine. Maybe that could get his mind off of that…terribly lucid dream. Roman could almost feel the warmth of her skin on his hands, sense the softness of her wrists, the girl had looked much cuter than he’d have expected when she blushed…Roman quickly slapped a handful of cold water into his face for good measure. _Nothing_ about Red was cute, he reminded himself. Not her blushing, not her angry face, not even the loose rose printed white pajama pants and black tank top that she’d been wearing. Roman vaguely wondered if she actually wore something like that when she was asleep before groaning and slapping himself in the forehead.

                “Honestly, fella, girls like that are not your type, get ahold of yourself,” Roman squeezed his eyes shut and held the bridge of his nose, trying desperately to take his thoughts off the girl. Momentarily they left him, and he resumed his daily routine only to stop short at the mirror once more, now fully groomed and dressed, and bring his fingers up to his lips. In the dream…he had kissed her. It had been barely a brush of their lips, but that counted. He could recall pretty well. Her lips had been…soft. When Roman realized that his thoughts had veered back to her, he clicked his tongue in annoyance. This couldn’t be good for his health. Roman exited his apartment in a hurry, off to whatever job Cinder wanted him to accomplish before he could give Red any more thought.

                It was only a dream. And that’s all it would ever be.

oooOOOooo


	2. The Second Dream

The Second Time it Caught them by Surprise

                Roman would be the first to admit that this was a fairly odd occurrence. After wandering the halls of what he assumed was Beacon, he had wound up in a heavily decorated dorm room with questionably safe furnishings. That is, if you could even bother to call makeshift bunk beds held together with rope and books remotely ‘safe’. Roman chuckled and made his way further into the room, noting immediately that Red was presently comatose in the roped up top bunk. He smirked but didn’t bother trying to reach her at her current position. One of her bratty friends was sleeping in the bunk below and either way he wasn’t risking the weight limit on that hazardous hanging mattress.

                So he studied the room from the windowsill, making mental guesses as to who owned what in their abode. The fancy painting on the wall…definitely looked like it belonged to the girl beneath Red. She seemed like a princess personality, if memory served its purpose she certainly fought like one. The boy band posters were loud and obnoxious, and very slanted—probably Blondie’s then. The bookshelf was organized and swollen with books, and if Roman looked closely there seemed to be a ninja themed harlequin romance hidden between the folds of a more seasoned novel. Likely the property of the cat girl, she seemed like the quiet type to have her nose in a book. And the curtain…was crimson in color and had an enormous, slanted cut through it—likely Red’s handiwork. Roman chuckled and fingered the shoddy sewing holding the damaged fabric together when a small squeak sprung up to his left.

                “How the hell did you get in here?!” Red had her pillow at the ready as she stared at Roman, her eyes wide and her face beet red.

                “Such harsh words for such a sweet girl,” Roman said mockingly with a playful smirk. “If you must know, I walked.”

                “You walked here wearing nothing but _that?!_ ”

                Roman looked down at himself nonchalantly and figured that she was likely referring to his normal pajamas, or rather, the fact that his only garment at the moment was a pair of pajama pants. He looked back up at Red and tilted his head, finding her flustered reaction all too amusing. “You walked all the way to my apartment wearing nothing but that,” he noted as he gestured lightly to her sleepwear, and if her blush could’ve gotten any darker, it probably did.

                Red growled and pelted her pillow at him. “Get out!” she shrieked quietly as she found more objects to throw at him, and Roman couldn’t help but laugh at her. Even when she hopped off the bed, he couldn’t help but be amused at her clumsy kicks as they aimed poorly at his shins. His amusement probably stemmed from how graceless and void of any combat skill the attacks were, yet despite this Red still managed to make him back out of the room, laughing all the while as she growled with fury. “Go away! Get!” she hissed.

                Roman had to hold his hand over his mouth to stifle his laughter. “Hell, Red, why don’t you just start chanting ‘Get back ye demon’ and make the whole thing a lot quicker?”

                “Shut up!” Red backed Roman into the hallway and began pushing him to the right. Roman was still laughing despite her rather forceful methods.

                “What in the world are you doing?”

                “I’m pushing you back to your apartment!”

                “You’re going the wrong way.”

                Red let out another, much louder groan of anger as she whipped around to the other side of his body and started pushing him from the front. Roman couldn’t help but admit that the look of determination she was wearing was nothing short of adorable.

                “You know Red, I hate to point this out, but I do know how to walk on my own.”

                “I don’t trust you to!” she yelled, her voice raising slightly above the hushed tone she’d been exercising.

                “Oh? Why not?”

                “You snuck into my dorm room!”

                “And you snuck into my apartment.”

                “That’s not the same!” Red wailed, banging a small fist against Roman’s chest in flustered retaliation.

                “You’re right. It’s worse.”

                “Oh if I had Crescent Rose with me right now…”

                Roman perked an eyebrow and chose to assume that she was referring to her scythe. “I was wondering where your giant weed cutter had gotten to. You didn’t misplace it anywhere, did you?”

                Roman smirked as Red glared daggers into him with her eyes—poor girl looked like she was about to pop a blood vessel. “I didn’t lose it, Torchwick! We keep them in our lockers at night! Now get out before my team notices that I’m gone!”

                “Your team is asleep.”

                “They might wake up!”

                “Raise your voice a little louder, Red,” Roman smirked and pressed a finger against her lips, “Maybe they will.”

                Red’s eyes widened and darted around as if she had only just realized that she was in the middle of a dark hallway in her pajamas with her hands flat against a criminal’s bare chest. The look of shock was fitting as she stepped back a little and looked around frantically, obviously trying to make sure no one had seen them. “You really need to go,” she murmured as she looked back towards him. Roman’s brow furrowed at that. He’s seen this face on Red before, like the night before she seemed...

                _Afraid._

                Roman tilted his head and stared down at her thoughtfully, his lips set in a thin frown as he held his concentration. “Are you worried about me?” It was a shot in the dark question, but as Red’s eyes focused on him again something told him he was right.

                “What?! No! No I…” Red’s gaze quivered and fell to the floor, her tiny hands balling into fists before she spoke again. “The night watch will return to this part of the building soon, just leave before they find you, okay? And before I change my mind.”

                “Aw, Red that’s really too sweet of you. I’m touched,” Roman smirked as the girl glared up at him again.

                “I should turn you in, you know.”

                “Oh I do know.”

                “And I didn’t help you out. Remember that.”

                “I know Red,” Roman smiled and leaned in to deliver a small kiss to the girl’s lips. He pulled out slightly, his small smile changing to a playful smirk as he spoke again.

                _“You’re secret’s safe with me.”_

oooOOOooo

                Roman was not having a good day. Where the first dream about Red had been unexpected, the second had taken on a whole new level of strange and had gone from a manageable afterthought to a string of mental images that was continuing to haunt him well into the afternoon. He felt frustrated with it all—and somewhat akin to a preteen mass of volatile hormones, much to his dismay. At any given moment he would go from positively giddy to concerned to glaring murder at any object that moved. Admittedly the latter emotion had taken up the majority of the day as every time a memory of Red made him smile in a less then vindictive way he spent hours trying to etch into his brain that he did not like Red _at all_. And even though he kept repeating the process, it wouldn’t work. He agitated himself with his own mental weakness.

                This was probably why, at five in the evening, Roman was laying on his couch with an old magazine slapped over his face instead of listening attentively to the small assembly that he was supposed to be hosting.

                “Aw, did you not catch enough sleep, Roman? Stay up past your bedtime?”

                Roman lifted the magazine off his face slightly to glare at Mercury, who was slumping unceremoniously in one of his kitchen chairs. His gaze flicked momentarily to the snickering green haired girl next to the boy before focusing back to him. “Geez, Mercury, did Cinder never teach you how to properly mock someone? Because if that’s all you can manage then I’m afraid you’re far more pitiful than I’d previously thought.”

                Mercury scowled at the comment and Roman replaced the magazine over his eyes, smiling happily at his handiwork. Rendering people speechless when you were in a bad mood was quite uplifting.

                “Roman, is there any reason that you have not contributed once to this meeting?” Cinder’s soft, threatening voice reached his ears and he sighed in response.

                “Stress headache,” Roman replied carelessly, “Way too many close encounters with authority in the past few jobs you’ve given me. You did notice that I was put on death row after escaping prison, right?”

                “I did, but I thought that with your talent for avoiding arrest, it wouldn’t be an issue.”

                “Well talent or not, the death penalty makes the possibility of being captured a little more threatening, doesn’t it? Not saying I don’t want to continue working for you Cinder, but I do think we ought to lay low until the heat dies down. The train incident has the whole city on red alert and we’re not prepared enough to operate around this much security with the Vytal Festival in the way.”

                “If you had been listening like you were supposed to be, you would know that we decided to halt operations until the heat dies down over an hour ago. In the meantime, we’ve been compiling a list of individuals to watch out for once we begin moving again. Care to contribute?”

                Roman grumbled a little to himself before lifting off the couch and heading to the table where Cinder, Adam, Neo, Mercury, and Emerald were all seated around Cinder’s scroll. Roman leaned over Cinder’s shoulder to glance at the scroll’s screen, which had two columns of identification photos and their respective titles, the left side for people listed as ‘threats’ and the right for those listed as ‘not a threat’. He sighed and flicked a finger across the right list, scrolling past dozens of unimportant people before one in particular stuck out to him.

_> Ruby Rose_

_> Age: 15_

_> Occupation: first year at Beacon and leader of team RWBY_

_> NOT A THREAT<_

                Roman squinted at the picture and the description for a moment. That was definitely Red. Younger than he’d expected. She definitely skipped a year or two if she was already at Beacon. “Put Red on the threat list,” Roman mumbled lazily, “preferably _before_ she makes us all into sitting ducks later on.”

                “Red…you mean Ruby?” Roman straightened himself and glanced at Emerald, who was staring at him with a look of surprise. He gave a curt nod before walking to the adjacent kitchen to pour himself a cup of something alcoholic. He needed something to calm his nerves before the thought of Red could make him smile like an idiot.

                “The kid was made specifically to get in the way of any criminal operative in Vale,” he stated simply as he came back into the room with a glass of brandy in hand. “She’s been a thorn in my side from the very beginning.”

                “She seemed kinda nice when we ran into her at Beacon. Also kinda ditsy though,” Emerald shrugged.

                “She is ditsy, I’ll grant you that,” Roman smirked and took a sip of his brandy.

                “She also didn’t seem like much of a threat when I fought her at the Transmit Tower…” Cinder murmured, her eyes narrowing in thought.

                “You fought her?” Roman perked an eyebrow. “When was this?”

                “During the Beacon Dance.”

                Roman barely stifled a snicker. “That’s a formal event, isn’t it?”

                “Yes.”

                “Was Red wearing heels?”

                “I didn’t take the time to look at her footwear,” Cinder frowned, “But she didn’t seem to be very steady on her feet, if that’s what you mean.”

                “She was probably wearing heels,” Roman confirmed, “But if you must know her combat ability isn’t the reason she should be on that list.”

                “Then what is your reason?”

                “Did I forget to tell you why I had to start the train early?”

                “I assumed it was because something went awry with the nearby Grimm. Was it something else?”

                “It was Red,” Roman said bluntly. “She and her merry band of do-gooders found the underground base against all odds and tried to stop the train. They failed, but in the long run they did succeed in slowing us down. You saw her description, she’s a team leader. And her team’s been watching us far too closely for far too long. We need to watch them back.”

                “Very well. We’ll add all of Team RWBY to the list.”

                “Good,” Roman finished off his glass of brandy and sauntered back to the couch. “Wake me up if you need anything else,” he muttered as he placed the magazine over his eyes once more. The group continued their conversations and Roman let out a small barely audible sigh of relief. He was glad they weren’t paying attention to him, because the mention of Red had veered his thoughts back to his dream the night before; the mental images of her blushing and the feel of her hands on his chest, her lips against his own, they preyed on his brain like a ferocious beast, relentless and very aggravating. _Ruby Rose_. It was a pretty name, one well suited to a girl like Red. She was certainly cute enough to pull it off…Roman scowled under the safety of the magazine on his face. He needed to stop thinking about it. She wasn’t pretty, she wasn’t cute, she wasn’t even real. They were _dreams_. He was becoming attached to a ghost.

                She was just a dream. And she going to stay that way.

oooOOOooo

                Around the same time on a certain rooftop at Beacon Academy, Ruby was sitting alone, hugging her knees with one arm and pressing her fingers to her lips, lost in thought as she enjoyed the one free moment she’d had to think about her dream from the night before. Yang had tried once more to get Ruby to tell her about it, but she had refused again—and much more adamantly this time. If the first dream was concerning for not being a nightmare, then the second one should’ve scared her beyond her wits for not being one. If Roman Torchwick showing up half dressed in her dorm room didn’t seem like a creepy scary thing while she was dreaming about it then something had to have snapped in her mind. Maybe it was her sanity.

                Ruby groaned and hid her head between her knees as she remembered the worst part. He had kissed her. More than in the first dream, an actual kiss, and even though she had been too flustered to kiss him back at the time she was pretty sure…that she’d liked it. She was not supposed to _like_ the idea of Torchwick kissing her. She wasn’t supposed to dream about _Torchwick kissing her_. And yet here she was, in the aftermath, with a furious blush plastered on her face as she mentally cursed herself for craving more. She needed to stop. He wasn’t handsome, he wasn’t a good kisser, he wasn’t _real_. These were dreams. Nothing more than disturbing mental images.

                He was just a dream. He was nothing more than that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rosewick trash Peeves reporting in. So I’m still breaking all the laws of Remnant logic for the sake of Chemistry, and there are a couple of things I’d like to clarify about this chapter just in case some of you have questions:
> 
> 1.- Roman escaping was a big security issue for Ironwood and he may or may not have killed a few guards on his way out. Hence his sentence was upped to the equivalent of “Somebody please kill this f**ker”.
> 
> 2.- Roman has about a dozen apartments strewn throughout the city of Vale, and none of them are under his name. He uses them as crash pads that he pays for generously to bribed landlords/cronies, which he can do because as far as I’m concerned Roman is a pureblood white collar criminal.
> 
> 3.- Of the RWBY villains, Roman is one of the only two that has fought Ruby before, and the only one that’s lost. And as confident and charismatic as Roman is, he has often struck me as the only cautious villain, as to date he is the only one I’ve seen that has ever planned for unforeseen circumstances. I don’t think anyone else would’ve really thought to classify Ruby as a threat.
> 
> Feel free to review, follow, favorite, etc. I’ll be happy if you do, my ego likes being fed, it makes me write faster. Next chapter will be out as soon as possible for the sake of Chemistry. Until then though…
> 
> Rosewick trash Peeves out until next chapter.


	3. The Third, Fourth and Fifth Dreams

The Third Time it Felt Routine (As it did with the Fourth and the Fifth)

                Ruby hated the fact that she had a clue as to where she probably was. Even though it was a different apartment, the décor was far too similar to be a coincidence. Even when she turned an entirely different corner, she had a sinking feeling that she was indeed heading towards the bedroom of one Roman Torchwick. And upon reaching the sleeping quarters, she knew herself to be right. He was wearing about as much as he had been in the night before (rather, she hoped he was but couldn’t see past the sheets over his legs)—she smiled a little as the bangs normally covering his right eye had fallen away a bit to reveal more of his face.

                Ruby closed the distance between herself and the man, making it all the way to the edge of the bed before his eyes flicked open and she was yanked onto the bed once more, this time by her…waist.

                “Nice to see you, Red,” Roman chuckled as Ruby squirmed against his arm, “Sneaking out to see me again, are we?”

                “Don’t flatter yourself,” Ruby hissed.

                “Hm, I’ll take that as a yes,” Roman smirked and pulled her closer to him, causing her to let out a small whine and blush as her arms met his chest. “Seriously, you need to tell me how you keep find these hideaways of mine. It’s embarrassing to have such a young security leak.”

                “What, am I putting a boo boo on your ego?” Ruby asked flatly.

                “Hardly,” Roman grinned and pressed his lips lightly against hers, “I’m just curious.”

                Ruby whined again as Roman kissed her firmly, one of his hands travelling to her head and tangling into her hair. When he broke away, she let out a breathy whimper, some small sane part of her was still cursing her out for enjoying his lips.

                Roman smirked, but instead of leaning in for another kiss, he pulled away and fell back onto his back. “So Red, since you’ve gotten me alone for a while, why don’t you tell me about yourself?”

                Ruby’s brow furrowed in confusion as she rolled onto her stomach and leaned on her elbows. “Since when do you care?”

                “I don’t,” Roman said dryly as he lifted a hand to straighten out his bangs. “I simply think it’s a better way to pass the time than sitting here in silence. Unless of course you’d prefer that.”

                “No,” Ruby shook her head and sighed. “What would you like to know?”

                “I don’t—“ Roman sighed and cast a sidelong glance at Ruby, looking somewhat frustrated with her. “Favorite food?”

                “Strawberries. Yours?”

                “Churros. Favorite song?”

                “This Will Be the Day. You?”

                “Not really a music person. I suppose something classical every once in a while doesn’t hurt though.”

                “You like snooze tunes?”

                “Go ahead, judge me. Favorite hobby?”

                “Weapon maintenance. Yours?”

                Roman’s face contorted into a sly grin. “Pickpocketing.”

                Ruby wrinkled her nose in disgust and he laughed.

                “I’m kidding. Card games are always fun. Poker especially.”

                “So your favorite hobby is gambling?”

                “Card games in general, Red. You can play cards without placing a bet. I’m rather partial to Spit or Spoons when I’m not in the mood for gambling.”

                “How do you play those?”

                “Maybe I’ll teach you sometime. Parents?”

                “Ah…” Ruby looked down at the mattress, and after a small silence Roman spoke up again.

                “Bad topic?”

                “Yeah, kinda…”

                “Moving on then. Favorite subject in school?”

                Ruby paused and looked at Roman quizzically. “You don’t care?”

                “Hm?”

                “About my parents?”

                “Not that it was important to me to begin with, but no, I really don’t care if whatever it is is some kind of sob story.”

                “What about your parents?”

                “Dead,” Roman stated bluntly, “killed by a bill collector. Can we move on now?”

                “…Do you miss them?”

                Roman groaned loudly. “No, not really. Can we move on?”

                “Why not?”

                “Christ, Red, beat the dead horse, why don’t you…because I don’t. It’s a long story that I don’t feel like telling and honestly, bottom line, it’s not your business.”

                “Fine, sorry I asked…” Ruby muttered and looked away, her eyes wandering the well-kept apartment thoughtfully. “How does a criminal even afford a place as nice as this?” she murmured.

                “Generous bribery and document forgery,” Roman stated carelessly, causing Ruby’s vision to shift back to him.

                “Generous bribery? How do you afford that?”

                “Um, I’m a professional thief? You do the math. Besides, my deals with the landlords are simple. I pay enough for a one bedroom apartment in order to occupy this under an alias, or they can watch me take away everything they love. Most of them choose the former option, but I have had a few…accidents.”

                Ruby wrinkled her nose once more. “That’s evil.”

                Roman simply smirked. “You didn’t actually think that I acquired this place through honest means, did you?”

                “How are you that unfazed? You’re hurting those people!”

                “And? Do I really look like I care?”

                Ruby looked at the man in shock as he smirked lazily at her. “You’re evil.”

                “Oh, honestly, Red, I’m really quite aware of that.”

                Ruby scoffed. “If you’re so aware of it then why do you keep acting like this?”

                “Because to date I haven’t found a valid reason not to.”

                “You’re hurting people.”

                Roman shrugged and Ruby shook her head.

                “What? Are you really that disappointed? Honestly Red, were you expecting something different?”

                “Yes, maybe a little emotion on your part,” Ruby snapped.

                “Emotion and empathy are not the same thing,” Roman clicked his tongue in annoyance. “And honestly I never cared for the latter very much.”

                “Why not?” Ruby nearly yelled in frustration.

                “Because the more you care about the world, the more it’ll tear you apart. I’m not particularly invested in the concept of being life’s chew toy.”

                “So you hurt people.”

                “So I do what I want and don’t give a rat’s ass who has a problem with it,” Roman spat, “Stop making it sound like I’ve made it my personal goal to ruin other people.”

                “Isn’t that what criminals do? Ruin other people?”

                “On occasion, yes. But that isn’t a goal, it’s a side effect.”

                “That’s awful.”

                _“That’s life.”_

oooOOOooo

                Roman had spent quite a bit of time watching Red sleep at this point, his lips formed into a thin frown and his brow knit together in contemplation. Admittedly his thoughts were centered mostly on the night before, which had ended on a less than happy note and had left Roman in a more agitated mood than on the days preceding it. He tilted his head as he continued to study the sleeping girl, his mind wondering why he had even cared what she thought of him. It wasn’t exactly surprising that they didn’t see eye to eye; Roman had a habit of not letting morals get in his way and…Ruby had always exhibited a strong sense of justice, even back in their previous, uncivil meetings.

                He already knew that they would disagree. So why did he care that she had been so upset? Why should he care what she thinks of him at all? Ruby stirred from her spot on her bed and Roman averted his eyes to the bookshelf he was sitting Indian style in front of.

                “How long have you been there?” Red asked sleepily, yawning a bit as she lazily addressed the man with less spark than she had in their previous meetings.

                “A while.”

                “What have you been doing…?”

                “Well I visually organized the bookshelf by color for a bit and contemplated the idea of swiping your coffee cup for a small game of tiddlywinks.”

                “Sounds boring.”

                “Quite. Are you going to kick me out now? Because if you want I can just see myself out.”

                Ruby didn’t answer with the expected growl or bitter ‘please do’ that Roman had anticipated, instead she slid off her mattress and shuffled up to him in silence. Upon reaching him, Red wordlessly dropped into a seated position and flopped her head down onto Roman’s chest. He blinked, thoroughly unprepared as her forehead pressed against his breastbone to the point where he had to press his hands against the floor to hold himself up. “To what do I owe the chest flop?” he grunted in an attempt to downplay his surprise. A muffled mumble came in response. “Care to repeat that in a language I can understand?”

                “Sorry.”

                Roman perked an eyebrow at the barely audible response as he looked down at her. “What for?”

                “For…yelling at you. I should’ve known better than to get upset…I just…I can’t understand that mentality…”

                “I don’t expect you to understand it,” Roman brushed it off and averted his gaze from Ruby. “You don’t have to apologize, Red.”

                “But I yelled at you about it…”

                “And? My occupation is strongly opposed to your morality, I wasn’t expecting anything different,” Roman could feel a small lump in his throat beginning to form, making it hard to swallow. He hadn’t expected an apology from her, especially considering how cynical he’d been in the process of refuting her logic.

                “But…”

                “Ruby.” Roman slid a finger under her chin and lifted her face away from his chest. “Had the roles been reversed I probably would’ve reacted the same way. Don’t worry about it.” Ruby stared at him, looking positively dumbfounded until he clicked his tongue in annoyance and spoke again. “What?”

                “Nothing, just…that’s the first time you’ve ever referred to me by name…”

                Roman did a mental once over of his previous sentence and realized that he had indeed called Ruby by her actual name. “Do you mind?”

                “No, no it’s just…you usually just call me Red…I guess I got used to it…”

                Roman shrugged and looked away only to have the girl’s small hand press against his cheek and bring his eyes to meet hers once more. He was about to ask what she wanted when she made her intentions clear by placing a small peck on his lips.

                “I’m still sorry, you know…” Ruby mumbled as she pulled away.

                Roman smirked and leaned in to kiss her again, breaking away from her only slightly at the end.

                _“I forgive you.”_

oooOOOooo

                “Please explain how you are doing that.”

                Ruby giggled impishly as she cleared yet another level of the game she was playing on Roman’s scroll. “Purely skill,” she stated confidently as she continued playing. A notice popped up on the new level screen and Ruby’s grin widened slightly as she presented it to Roman. “Beat your high score.”

                “Yeah yeah, big deal, good for you Red,” he muttered, “Not like I play that time waster religiously.”

                “You know you’re jealous.”

                “Actually I really could not care less,” Roman stated flatly with a yawn.

                Ruby looked over at the man and smiled at his disinterested frown—noting mentally that this was what he looked like when he was pouting. It was moments like this that made it difficult for Ruby—finding it in herself to hate Roman was challenging when he was simply sitting around in a pair of pajama pants and fiddling with wayward strands of hair in a childish attempt to hide his irritation. He looked too…human, if that was the right word. She snickered as his eyes fell on her again.

                “What?”

                “Nothing,” Ruby hummed as she turned her eyes back to the scroll in her hands and moved on to the next faster paced level.

                “You little—Red, seriously, it’s a game, I don’t care.”

                Ruby snickered again but didn’t take her eyes off the screen. “Your pouty baby face tells a different story.”

                “I am not pouting like a baby,” Roman said evenly.

                “Did you just cross your arms?” There was a pause of silence and Ruby giggled again as she could almost feel Roman’s eyes narrowing into a glare behind her. “Baby,” she said with a smirk.

                “My god, I think I’ve actually corrupted you in only five nights’ time. That must be a new record.”

                “You wish, Torchwick. I’m just amused at your poor attempt to pretend you don’t care.”

                “I don’t.”

                “I beat your high scooore,” Ruby sang and looked back at him as she cleared another level.

                “Alright you little—“ Roman lunged forward and grabbed Ruby at her sides, his scroll falling out of her hands as he pulled her back. He began tickling her and she laughed, struggling childishly in retaliation.

                “H-Hey, stop it!” she choked out between laughs. “Fine, I give, you don’t care!”

                Roman smirked and ceased his attacks, pulling Ruby tightly into his arms in the process. “That’s much better.”

                “But you’re still a baby.”

                “You know, Red, I really don’t wanna hear that from you,” Roman murmured into her ear and Ruby just snickered in response.

                “Whatever.”

                “Mm.” Roman pressed his lips lightly against the side of her neck. “Your place tomorrow?”

                “Yup.”

                Roman sighed into her neck.

                _“See you there.”_


	4. The Sixth Dream

The Sixth Time was When they Made the Marks

                After five nights of what he had self-diagnosed as some strange mental illness, Roman was beginning to adjust to his meetings with dream-Ruby each night. At this point he was too exhausted to fight the fact that he enjoyed them and since it was easy to brush off his good humor as simply having gotten a good night’s sleep (which was in fact, not a lie) he made his way through the day without so much as a single hiccup. It probably helped that yesterday and the day before he had spent confirming that he still had no qualms with murdering the girl, as he’d spent them in a makeshift shooting range, decimating dummy after dummy while imagining Red’s pretty little face. On the other hand it might’ve been how sinfully cute Ruby had seemed while she was teasing him last night that had made him so pleased.

                Roman had since decided not to care if that was the reason. If he knew the Ruby in his head was nothing more than a dream then he shouldn’t care whether or not he felt any attraction to her. Roman smirked at the memory of her giggling for what must’ve been the fiftieth time that day as he reviewed various underground sites in search of any small jobs he could busy himself with in order to pay the rent. The one greatest downside he’d found to working with Cinder was that he was far more strapped for cash than normal and needed a few covert operations of his own to keep his tiny underground kingdom from a fatal crash and burn. Junior had been generous enough to lend a dollar or two while Cinder had him overworked, but now that he had the time to spare, he’d rather rely on his own capabilities than Junior’s—no offense meant to the club owner.

                Roman heard the door to his office swing open and he glanced absently at his visitor before returning to his work. “Can I help you, Cinder?”

                “I see you’re back to finding petty crimes to commit.”

                “If it pays the bills,” he replied shortly as he reviewed a well-paying theft request of a museum piece.

                “Why not leave that work to the foot soldiers?” Cinder inquired smoothly as she glided towards his desk. “They’re more…expendable.”

                Roman suppressed the urge to shudder as he felt Cinder trail her fingers lightly against his spine. “They’re also looking to climb the underground social ladder. If I don’t put forth some effort into proving that I’ve earned my stripes, I might be giving a hard headed newbie enough leverage against me to start a small mutiny.”

                “In other words this is simply a ploy to keep your men in line.”

                “That’s one way of putting it,” Roman replied with a smirk.

                “Well make sure whatever you choose won’t take long. I have work for you.”

                “I thought we were keeping a low profile.”

                “We are, for the next month or so. After that, we move forward with the plan. Prepare for the jobs I’ve given you while you wait.”

                Roman resisted the urge to growl in irritation. “And when are you planning on telling me what those jobs are?”

                “I’ve already sent the details to your scroll, Roman,” Cinder placed two fingers under his chin and forced him to look up at her. “Don’t disappoint me.”

                Roman’s brow furrowed at this and he pushed her fingers away from his chin. “I get it. I’ll review the files later. In the meantime, I have some petty crimes to prepare for, so if you would please see yourself out.” Roman gestured curtly to his office door before turning back to the museum request.

                Cinder simply laughed softly. “I’ll leave you to it then.”

                Roman waved lazily as she left, and when the door closed he let out a small groan. No matter how much he respected (and feared) Cinder on a criminal level, there was no love lost between them socially. At times it seemed like Cinder either wasn’t aware of his distaste or enjoyed pestering him; the woman had shown up for a nice, pointless chat many a time before he’d gone to jail again. During her past visits Roman often thought to himself that he’d prefer having a heart to heart with Red, which, in light of his recent dreams, was a preference he considered confirmed. Roman smiled as he recalled how he’d held Ruby in last night’s dream. On previous days he might’ve kicked himself for enjoying the feeling, but if Red was nothing more than a dream, he wouldn’t bother.

                After all, that’s all she was. A dream.

oooOOOooo

                “Why aren’t you in your pajamas?”

                Roman blinked and looked towards Red, who was now sitting up in her bed looking down at him. He lifted himself up slightly and glanced down at his clothes before shrugging and leaning back against the bookshelf. “Long work day,” Roman muttered.

                “Committing robberies pucker you out?”

                “Preparing for robberies, actually.”

                “That’s all?”

                “You’d be surprised how much thought goes into organized crime, kid.”

                “Hm.” Ruby slid off the bed and paced towards Roman. He followed her with his eyes, pulling her down into his lap as soon as she was in arms reach. “So what should we do tonight?” she murmured and yawned lightly.

                “I have a few ideas,” Roman smirked and leaned in to kiss her, his lips brushing hers only lightly at first before pulling her in deeper. He could hear her small stifled moan, and he pulled away a little to look at her. She was already blushing, her lips formed into a small, dazed frown as she whined slightly from the contact. Roman smiled and brought his hands up to straighten out a few strands of her hair before placing his appendages under her jawline, pulling her in for a string of kisses laced with a few nips and tugs at her lips. Red responded, leaning into his lips every time they pressed against hers and letting out small heated whines every time they came apart.

                Roman was enjoying this. Admittedly before he started dreaming about Red, it’d been far too long since he’d felt this level of physical intimacy. And Ruby, despite doing very little to improve the kisses (whether that was to do with her being flustered or instead inexperienced, he didn’t know), had a natural affinity for this. Yes, Roman probably could’ve kept this up all night; somewhere inside him the animal that craved Red’s body the most had stirred, and while he managed the control to keep his hands firmly planted by her jawline, his lips dove for hers with the starved hunger of that inner beast. He could’ve kept going, but when Ruby pushed him away, he stopped, letting out no more than a small growl in his throat to show his disappointment.

                “We shouldn’t be doing this,” she whispered breathlessly.

                Roman sighed. “Why do I feel like we’re about to get into another discussion about morals?”

                “We’re supposed to be enemies!”

                “Aand here we go…”

                “I’m supposed to hate you and you’re supposed to hate me and instead we’re, we’re—“

                “Making out?”

                “—on the floor of my dorm room! My teammates could wake up any second and see me locking lips with you, and then we’d both be in so much trouble, especially if Blake was the one that caught us—“

                “Blake?”

                Ruby gestured quickly to the bunk with the faunus girl in it before continuing her rant. “Or Yang. Oh god, if Yang saw us…she’d probably call our dad about it at the first available moment! I’d be grounded forever!”

                “Red…”

                “I’d lose Crescent Rose and be forced to do the family housework for the rest of my life!”

                “Red.”

                “Yang would probably treat me like her slave! I’d have to clean her room and wash her dishes and don’t even get me started on the _laundry_ —“

                “Ruby!”

                Ruby stopped ranting and looked over at Roman as he ran a hand down the left side of his face in exasperation. “Do I even need to tell you that you’re overreacting? Your team mates aren’t going to wake up. It’s only a dream.”

                “A dream?” she sputtered. “How are you so sure?”

                Roman mentally reminded himself to imagine a less frantic Ruby in his next dream. “Because nothing we do here remains in effect after it’s over,” Roman sighed. “I had a hunch a few nights ago that I just confirmed tonight, before you woke up.” Roman pulled out his scroll and flicked through it until he reached a certain game. “Take a look.”

                “The…game I played last night?”

                “Take a look at the list of high scores.”

                “I’m…not on there.”

                “Exactly. Because you only beat the high score during a dream. It reset to what it had been before as soon as the dream ended. In other words, I’m still the champion.” Roman smirked as Ruby pouted at him.

                “I’d still beat your high score if I was awake.”

                “Of course you would, Red.”

                The two sat in silence for a moment before Ruby spoke up again. “So this is a dream?”

                “Yeah.”

                “So that means you aren’t actually real?”

                Roman’s brow knit together in confusion at that. “Pretty sure I’d be real in my own dream, thank you. You’re the one that isn’t real.”

                “I am definitely real! And this is my dream, Torchwick!”

                Roman perked an eyebrow at this. “Oh really?”

                “Why else would you be in my dorm room?”

                “Because I have an active imagination.”

                “That’s a laugh.”

                “Now I’m a little offended. Do you realize how creative you have to get to avoid the police?”

                “It’s still my dorm room. An exact replica.”

                Roman frowned at that. This conversation had added a whole new level of complicated to the situation he found himself in. “Well,” Roman cleared his throat, “either way, the fact stands that it is just a dream.”

                “Prove it.”

                Roman groaned and sat up a bit. His eyes flicked across the bookshelf behind them until he caught sight of a fat black marker on the second shelf. He picked it up and twirled it in his fingers a little before opening it, causing Ruby to lean away from him a little.

                “What are you doing…?” she said cautiously, causing him to let out a small chuckle.

                “Well I could leave you with a nice goatee and a monocle, but I think I’ll limit myself to this…” Roman held Ruby’s arm steady with his left hand as he traced his initials onto her shoulder, winning him a quizzical look from the girl.

                “What does that do?”

                “Well when you wake up in the morning—assuming you are real like you say you are—and it’s not there, then you’ll know it was a dream. And when you come to my place tomorrow night, and it’s still not there, you’ll remember again.”

                “So it’s like a reality checker.”

                “If you want to call it that.”

                Ruby stared at him for a moment before snatching the marker from his hand and undoing a portion of his shirt. He perked an eyebrow at the action.

                “Red I know you’re used to seeing me shirtless, but does my clothing tonight really upset you to the point where you want to undress me?”

                Ruby snorted. “Ha ha, very funny. You’re wearing a long sleeve shirt. It’s easier to get to the skin on your chest than your shoulder,” she explained as she began drawing on the left side of his torso.

                Roman closed his eyes and mentally traced the marker strokes Red made in his mind. “Your initials?” he guessed as he opened his eyes and looked down at her

                “You used yours,” Ruby shrugged.

                Roman sighed. “Do I really need this?”

                “Just in case it helps.”

                “Fine,” Roman mumbled as he lifted a hand up to fiddle with Red’s hair. “Something tells me I’m not getting any more kisses like that for a while.”

                Ruby averted her gaze from him and folded her arms over her chest, her silver eyes giving off a look of guilt as they fixated downwards. “I-I shouldn’t have given you any kisses to begin with,” she mumbled. “I’m not supposed to…”

                “You aren’t supposed to like me,” Roman muttered.

                Red’s gaze connected with his once more, her eyes watery and her face formed into a look of confusion. “I’m sorry,” she whispered lightly as her vision fell to the floor once more. Roman frowned and leaned over to kiss her on the forehead.

                _“I know.”_

oooOOOooo

                Ruby awoke slowly the next morning, her hand rising to her forehead and pressing gently against the spot where Roman had kissed her. No, where Roman would’ve kissed her. It was a dream, she reminded herself. Her fingers traveled down to her lips, tracing them as they tingled with the burning sensation left over from kisses that had never occurred. Ruby frowned deeply as she felt part of her brain wishing they had. Most of it, actually. Her own emotions were beginning to betray her. Ruby’s eyes glanced out to the room beneath her momentarily, her breath shallow as she attempted not to alert her teammates to her consciousness. The effort had been in vain, for the room was empty, void of all life but herself as her friends left her to happily sleep in while they found something to occupy themselves with.

                Ruby’s gaze fell down to her right shoulder, noting that it was clean, bare, with not a trace of the black marker scrawl of the initials “RT”. Ruby absently brought her left hand to the spot it would’ve been, her head flopping to back to her pillow as she squeezed her eyes shut and begged herself to stop wishing it was still there.

                _Don’t wish he’s more than a dream. Don’t let these feelings grow. Kill them before they surface. Kill them before they destroy you._

                Ruby could feed herself the logical answers until she was blue in the face, yet as soon as the thought of him entered her brain she’d soften, thinking of the fake memories that less than a week of dreams had spawned in her. Her heart was yearning to feel his arms around her when her mind knew that by daylight they’d sooner be around her neck.

                _Don’t let him under your skin._

                But he was already making his way beneath it, tugging at her strings like a well-trained puppeteer.

                _Don’t let these feelings grow._

                Ruby rolled over to face the wall and resisted the urge to scream. If any of her friends were nearby she didn’t want them to run to her rescue, she could fix this on her own. She had to.

                _Kill them before they surface._

Ruby curled up into the fetal position, her hands covering her face as she told herself not to cry.

                _Kill them before they destroy you._

                Ruby should’ve listened to herself. She should’ve. She knew that. She wouldn’t give in without a fight. She wouldn’t let him win. But that didn’t change how she felt, the fear beginning to take hold. The hunger in her heart telling her not to hold back.

                _They will destroy you._

She felt like she was already drowning.


	5. The Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Dreams

The Seventh Time felt Confusing (the Eight and the Ninth felt better, and worse)

                Ruby rubbed her eyes groggily as she made her way to Roman’s bedroom. She had spent most of her waking hours confined to her bed, trying to convince herself not to get attached to this when she was starting to realize that the attachment had already grown. Highly convenient, she thought as she stepped through the open doorway that led to yet another one of Roman’s bed chambers, where the man in question was surprisingly already awake and sitting on his windowsill with a cigar between his lips.

                “Hello Red,” he spoke up without turning to her, and Ruby gave him a questioning look as she sat down on the bed.

                “What are you doing?”

                “City watching. Mostly to confirm to myself that I’m not awake.”

                “How does looking out a window prove this is a dream?” Ruby asked as she unconsciously placed a hand over her right shoulder.

                “Because Vale is never this quiet after sunset,” Roman noted as he blew out a puff of smoke from his cigar. “I’m assuming the mark is gone?”

                “Yeah.”

                “There’s a marker on the night stand if you want to make a new one.”

                Ruby glanced back to the small table behind her and retrieved the writing utensil before lifting off the bed and walking towards Roman, who glanced at her absently when she approached. Ruby uncapped the marker in silence and found the spot where she’d last written on him, retracing her initials as he sighed and let out another puff of smoke.

                “I meant on you.”

                “This is better,” she said firmly, her eyes planted on the mark while she traced it with one finger.

                “Ruby.”

                She looked up at him, confusion setting in as her eyes met with his solemn expression. “Yes?”

                “Please don’t do that. I’m only so capable of restraint.”

                Ruby blushed and pulled her finger away from his chest, pausing a mere moment before flopping down onto him, making him grunt from the sudden application of weight.

                “Didn’t I just say something about trying to restrain myself?”

                “Shut up, I had a long day,” Ruby whined into his chest.

                “You and me both,” Roman muttered.

                “Hm? Why was yours long?”

                “Work,” he noted curtly as he snuffed out the remainder of his cigar. “I have a risky job to prepare for that I’m not really looking forward to.”

                “Isn’t committing crime risky in general?”

                Roman gave a small shrug as he peeled Ruby off his chest and walked towards the bed. “A good criminal calculates the risks and prepares for every possible outcome, but some jobs are too risky for that kind of preparation. I prefer avoiding that type of job, when I can.” Roman fell down onto his bed and Ruby followed him back, sitting down carefully after his rather graceless flop.

                “So…why don’t you just…not do the job?”

                “Complicated,” he waved off quickly, “What was long about your day? Did you have a fight with your teammates or something?”

                “Actually…” Ruby blushed sheepishly, “I spent most of the day in bed…”

                Roman perked an eyebrow at that. “And this made it a long day because…?”

                “I was thinking about this all day.”

                “Ah.”

                “Yeah.”

                Roman rolled onto his side and took the marker from Ruby, uncapping it and lazily writing his initials on her shoulder once more. “So what do your friends think of these dreams?” he asked absently.

                She scoffed a little. “I thought you were under the impression that I wasn’t real.”

                “I am,” Roman shrugged, “I’m simply indulging the fantasy for the sake of curiosity.”

                Ruby paused, her eyes narrowing thoughtfully. “They don’t know about them.”

                “You’ve kept them a secret? How naughty.”

                “Would you like to explain to your friends and older sister that you’ve been having dreams about the criminal mastermind you were trying to thwart? Oh but they aren’t nightmares, they’re actually rather enjoyable, and you’re always in your PJ’s together and you’ve kissed a few times and even made out on the floor of your dorm room and there just might be a possibility that you’re starting to like him even though you keep telling yourself it’s a bad idea, what’s so hard about telling them that?”

                “Artfully explained Red,” Roman remarked with a smirk. “I see your point. If I cared as much as you I’d probably be concerned with their reactions as well.”

                “So you’ve told your friends?”

                “No,” He breathed, “My one friend has been too busy with work to bother. Not that I know how to explain it without sounding like I’ve gone insane.”

                “Oh.”

                Roman brought a finger up to trace the ink strokes on Ruby’s shoulder before leaning over to press his lips lightly against the mark. Ruby squirmed a bit as he did; her mind told her to shy away from the action where her heart told her to return it. The confliction had her split evenly down the middle, which was unsettling, especially considering her normal preference for siding with her heart. She let out a chuckle as he pulled away. “I thought you were practicing restraint tonight.”

                “If you legitimately think that kissing your shoulder is the pinnacle of what I’d like to do with you tonight then you are much more innocent than I gave you credit for,” Roman mumbled.

                Ruby blushed in response. “So why are you restraining yourself?” she glanced over at him, his eyes opening slightly to look at her.

                “Because of the many crimes I would willingly commit, sexual abuse is not one of them.”

                “…Why?”

                “Because I’ve never found the concept very appealing.”

                Ruby frowned and shifted closer to Roman, her eyes searching his somewhat vacant and drowsy visage. “But you take from people all the time,” Ruby murmured, “What would make it different?”

                “A million things. It’s not really something I put much thought into, I just don’t like the idea. Can you stop asking about it now?”

                “But you don’t even think I’m real.”

                _“That doesn’t change anything for me either way.”_

oooOOOooo

                Roman skimmed the words written briefly and attempted to turn to the next soporific page before Ruby caught his wrist and forced him to drop it, causing him to let out a short irritated groan as he looked down at the girl leaning her back against him.

                “You did not finish reading that,” Red stated accusingly.

                “How do you know?”

                “Because I didn’t finish reading it.”

                “I may have skimmed,” he admitted airily, “But I got the basic gist, that’s good enough.”

                “Oh really?” Ruby’s eyes narrowed.” So what’s the story about so far?”

                “Some girl with a magic slipper. I fail to see why we’re reading these, Red. They’re for _children_.”

                “It’s my turn tonight!” Ruby pouted. “We agreed! I get to choose the activity when we’re in my dorm room, and you decide it when we’re in your apartment! And I wanna read!”

                “Couldn’t you have chosen something a bit less childish? These were literally written for a first grade reading level.”

                “These are my favorites!”

                Roman perked an eyebrow. “So you’re still on the reading level of a first grader?” he smirked impishly as Ruby’s face turned nearly scarlet with embarrassment.

                “No!” she refuted, “I can read above my grade level just fine!”

                “So why do you like these stupid fairy tales?”

                Ruby squirmed a little in what Roman assumed to be discomfort, her cheeks flushed as her gaze glued itself to the floor. “Because…they’re the reason I chose to become a Huntress…”

                Roman’s eyes widened in surprise. “Huh. So these are your inspiration?”

                Red graced him with a hesitant nod.

                “Well that explains…pretty much everything. From your aggravatingly strict moral compass to your exaggerated concern for everyone. I understand it all now.”

                Roman smirked as she glared at him suspiciously. “Are you teasing me?”

                “Maybe a little.”

                Red grumbled and looked away again as he chuckled and kissed the side of her head. “Meanie,” she muttered.

                Roman shrugged. “I find it unrealistic, that’s all.”

                “You find what unrealistic?”

                “Thinking you can make the world a better place.”

                “Why?”

                “You ask me that question far too often.”

                “You’re the one that makes me curious, don’t blame me.”

                Roman sighed.

                _“Life is far too cruel to let you change its nature.”_

oooOOOooo

                Ruby smiled at her quickly dwindling pile of cards and reminded herself to thank Roman for choosing a game that relied heavily on speed. After stealing a quick glance at him, she snorted and amended that reminder to thank him _tomorrow night_ , seeing as his expression had contorted into a distinct scowl while Ruby sat there, beating him at the game he had taught her no more than an hour ago.

                “Remind me to avoid fast paced competitions with you, Red,” Roman muttered as Ruby slapped her hand down on the smallest pile of cards between them.

                “You’re just sour because you’re about to lose the bet,” Ruby smirked, winning an even colder glare from him.

                “And because I’m actually trying to beat you,” he added shortly, “but I’m losing even though you’ve known the rules for less than an hour.”

                Ruby shrugged. “Well my semblance is speed.”

                “You know, I wish I had known that before I agreed to that bet.”

                “And why is that?”

                “Because I really don’t like showing people my right eye.”

                “It’s not that big a deal.”

                “It is to me.”

                Ruby finished resetting her side of the game ad Roman shortly followed, and one short round later, Ruby had relinquished all her cards to Roman. She grinned impishly. “I woooon,” she sang.

                “You are a very sore winner, you know that?”

                “Am not,” Ruby pouted, “A bet’s a bet. Now show me what’s under the bangs!”

                “Fine, I will,” Roman closed his eyes and lifted his bangs, revealing the location of his right eye briefly before letting his hair fall over it again. “Happy?”

                “Your eyes were closed that doesn’t count!”

                “You never said my eyes had to be open.”

                “It was implied!”

                “Hm. Guess I missed that.”

                “Romaaaan!” Ruby whined, and he smirked as she tackled him, forcing his back against the mattress. “Stop cheating!”

                “I’m not cheating,” he chuckled in response, fending off Ruby’s feeble grabs at his bangs with ease. “You asked me to show you my right eye, and I did.”

                “That’s not what I meant!” Ruby huffed in frustration.

                “Honestly, Red, is it really that big a deal?”

                “Yes.”

                Roman sighed, one hand hovering over his bangs as he stared up at her. “I can’t believe I’m letting you get away with this…fine, go ahead and look.”

                Ruby tilted her head in response to his sudden relaxation and crawled over top of him hesitantly after a short pause. Roman kept his gaze away from her until she lifted a hand up to push away the hair in front of his right eye. Within moments of registering what she was staring at, she spoke up. “You’re—“

                “Noticeably blind in my right eye? Yes. Ugly little bugger, isn’t it?”

                Ruby frowned as she studied the milky white iris staring back at her. “Why is it…just your right eye?”

                “I haven’t a clue, Red. I was born with it.”

                “So you…hide it?” Ruby lifted her hand away from Roman’s bangs and he pushed them back over his eye.

                “It’s just as useless either way.”

                “It’s a cataract, right?”

                Roman nodded slowly.

                “Couldn’t you find a doctor to get it fixed?”

                “I’m not trusting a single underground doctor with my eyeball, thank you.”

                “Then why don’t you just go to a normal…” Ruby trailed off as she won a hard stare from Roman, and her mouth snapped shut abruptly. “Oh.” He snorted and her brow furrowed with irritation. “What?”

                “You just barely stopped yourself from asking a wanted criminal why he wouldn’t visit a government licensed doctor, and all you have to say for yourself is ‘Oh’.”

                “Shut up.”

                Roman laughed and wrapped his arms around Ruby as she pouted and attempted to ignore how nice it felt to be brought a little closer to him. “You’re really too cute when you pout like that,” he murmured into her ear.

                “I’m not cute, I’m angry!” she refuted, only to win a small smirk and a peck on the lips in response.

                _“Of course you are, Red.”_

oooOOOooo

                Roman twirled his glass of liquor in his hand absently, the music of The Club drowned out from his ears as he waited for Junior to finish chatting up whatever high end party goers had just entered his business. Roman sighed and fiddled with the rim of his hat as he twirled the top of his cane with the other hand. He hadn’t been sitting in this inconspicuous little corner booth for much more than five minutes, but he was feeling more than a little restless, considering the information he was waiting to receive.

                Roman took another gulp of liquor just as Junior’s conversation ended, and as the man began walking over Roman felt something tap him on the shoulder. He turned to see Neo holding her parasol out with one hand and a small note out with the other. He took the note from her a quickly read the neat penmanship.

                _You’ve been on edge the past few days. What’s wrong?_

                “Long story, Neo,” Roman replied, “I’ll explain later.”

                Neo quickly jotted down another note and passed it to him.

                _Does it have anything to do with why we came to see Junior?_

“It has everything to do with that,” he stated bitterly.

                _I hope you know what you’re doing._

                “I don’t.”

                _Oh joy._

“Neo, stop littering my club and use your damn scroll to speak,” Junior said gruffly as he sat down opposite of Roman in the booth. Neo responded by pulling out her scroll and typing up another note.

                _Bossy._

“I don’t wanna hear my boys complain about your mess,” Junior stated curtly, “Last time you left over fifty discarded pieces of paper in this booth and one of my men still hasn’t forgiven you for it.”

                _Sucks to be him then._

                Roman chuckled at the budding argument but made a gesture at Junior to get his attention, thus thwarting the possible one-sided yelling match. “Do you have the information I requested?”

                “Yeah. Didn’t take too long to get my hands on. Don’t ask how I got it though.”

                “You know I won’t.”

                Junior dropped a moderately fat file down on the table and sighed, a frown marring his features. “Are you going to explain to me why you need this, Roman?”

                “I’ll explain its relevance to both of you after I’ve had a look,” Roman remarked as he pulled the file towards him. He flipped open the file, eyes scanning the table of contents for all he could ever want to know about team RWBY. Junior had certainly out done himself. It was almost a shame that Roman only needed a few bits from it. He began flipping through the file quickly, skimming past birthdays, combat abilities, semblances, and family relations until he found the one, most important part of this file. A picture of their dorm room. Roman studied the picture for no more than a millisecond before swearing under his breath and leaning his head in his hand. An exact replica, Ruby had said. He was hoping that she’d been wrong. Sadly that wasn’t the case.

                From the patched up curtain to the hazardous bunk beds, everything in the room depicted here had been accounted for in his dreams, a feat of replication that would’ve been impossible for him to manage, active imagination or not. Then there was the fact that Ruby had indeed surprised him before in ways he neither would’ve guessed nor held preference towards…and her insistence the other night that she was the dreaming one. He hated admitting it to himself, but it seemed that the Red in his dreams was the genuine article. Oh how he wished he’d found this out before he’d surrendered to what was now a very strong attraction to her. Roman flicked the file closed in one small motion and sent it back towards Junior, whose face had twisted into a look of concern.

                “Something wrong, Roman?” he asked slowly.

                Roman let out a small, cynical huff. “Yes,” he breathed, “Something is very, very wrong.”


	6. The Tenth Dream

The Tenth Time they felt Defeated

                Ruby glanced up at Yang vacantly, having heard her name but nothing else of her sister’s sentence. “Yes Yang?”

                The blonde groaned at her sister’s question. “I said we should pick out an outfit for you tomorrow night!”

                “What for?”

                “For Friday! Aren’t you meeting up with your friends from Signal in downtown Vale Friday night?”

                “Oh. Right.” Ruby contemplated this for a second as she lifted her milk carton to her lips and drank from it. “Nah, I’ll just wear my normal outfit.”

                “Ruubyyy!”

                “What? My normal outfit’s fine.” Ruby took another gulp of milk just as Weiss spoke up.

                “So you aren’t going to dress up for your crush like any other girl would?”

                Ruby spat out her milk onto a very disappointed Yang. “My WHAT?!”

                “Yang was just telling us about him,” Blake spoke up softly as she held out a napkin to the milk-soaked blonde girl, “Says you’ve had a thing for the same guy since you were thirteen.”

                “Yang!”

                “Oh come on sis! I didn’t reveal any names. Besides, he’s coming into Vale to see yoooou…” Yang poked Ruby playfully and the girl blushed and flailed madly.

                “We’re just friends!” Ruby refuted, “That’s all!”

                “If you’re just friends, then why are you blushing?” Weiss asked.

                “Well…I-I did like him back at Signal, but I don’t anymore, and Yang wasn’t supposed to tell anyone about it!”

                “Heh, oops.”

                “So you don’t like him anymore?” Blake asked.

                “Well, um…uh…” Ruby’s eyes darted around and Weiss spoke up again.

                “It’s settled then. We’ll help you choose an outfit after we finish with our schoolwork together.”

                “Weiss!”

oooOOOooo

                “So what’s wrong?” Junior spoke up. “You said you would tell us.”

                Roman sighed and pulled two devices out of his pocket, winning a strange look from Neo and Junior.

                Neo typed another note on her scroll. _What are those for?_

                “They’re used to jam the audio frequencies on bugs and wiretaps,” Junior explained.

                “One blocks out ninety five percent of all bugs…” Roman murmured as he turned the device on, “and the other blocks out the missing five percent. Junior helped me acquire them a few years back.”

                “I’m a little confused as to why you’re using them on me though,” Junior stated begrudgingly. “You don’t actually think I’d sell you out after all these years, do you? And Neo here can barely function her own scroll, I highly doubt that she could properly function a wiretap.”

                “Oh I know neither of you would purposely help someone spy on me,” Roman stated nonchalantly, “You’re both loyal to a fault. It’s Cinder I don’t trust.”

                “Ah…so the boss can’t know about this, huh?”

                “Partner,” Roman corrected Junior curtly.

                “The only reason you started helping her is to pay her off for helping you break out of jail. She’s your boss.”

                “Oi…think what you will of it Junior, alright? Do you want me to tell you what’s going on or not?”

                “I’m waiting.”

                “Okay…” Roman spun his cane around in his hand and considered the various ways to actually explain to his long-time friend what had been occurring each night for the past nine days. “This will probably sound insane,” he began, soliciting a sigh from Junior.

                “Oh boy…” the man grumbled as he covered his eyes with one hand.

                Roman ignored him and turned to Neo, who was staring at him with a quizzical expression. “You remember Red, right?”

                Neo typed out a response quickly on her scroll.                

                _That’s what you call that Ruby girl, right?_

                “Correct.”

                “I already don’t like where this is going,” Junior muttered.

                “I haven’t even gotten to the insane part,” Roman remarked.

                “So enlighten me, Roman.”

                “Well, I’ve been having these…dreams lately—“

                “Dear god…” Junior muttered.

                “I know, it sounds crazy, just hear me out. They’ve been occurring for a little over a week, and Red, or as you may know her, Ruby Rose…” Roman flicked open the file again and pulled out a picture of the girl, “has been present in all of them.”

                “So you’ve been dreaming about the kid you told me you wanted to kill a few months ago.”

                “That’s the complicated part,” Roman added bitterly as he pulled out the picture of Ruby’s dorm room. “This should be the first time I’ve seen this room, right?”

                “Yes…?”

                “It isn’t,” Roman noted with a frown. “I’ve seen this room about four times before now.”

                “Should I even bother to ask where?”

                “In the dreams.”

                “Right. You sound like a lunatic, Roman.”

                “I know.”

                “So why is this room’s existence such a problem?”

                Roman groaned and placed a hand over his eyes. “Because if it really exists then there’s a strong possibility that the Ruby I’ve been getting visits from is actually Ruby and not a figment of my imagination.”

                “You know it just occurred to me that you didn’t mention the exact nature of these dreams.”

                Roman looked up at Junior, holding his stare for a few short moments of silence before Junior nearly growled with frustration.

                “Roman, please tell me that you did not just admit to adding seduction of a minor to your long list of offenses while the government wants you on _death row_.”

                “Might’ve been an accidental slip up on my part.”

                “Roman!”

                “What? Do you think I asked to suddenly share dreams with the girl? It just happened one night, I’ve had no control over it since.”

                “Did you—“

                “No I didn’t sleep with her,” Roman snapped. “I haven’t even seen her naked.” Roman felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to Neo, who’d been observing the two impatiently, as her lack of a voice left her without the ability to get a word in edgewise.

                _How many times has this happened so far?_

“Nine times…” Roman replied slowly, frowning as he realized how small the number sounded. It felt like it’d been longer.

                “It took nine times for you to consider telling your best friend about this?” Junior inquired with an edge of irritation in his voice.

                “You were busy, and I was still trying to find a way to explain it without sounding like I’d lost my mind.”

                “You failed miserably on that last part.”

                “Well I’m starting to question my own sanity, considering this,” Roman gestured to the dorm room picture quickly. “It’s not exactly what one could call a usual occurrence. That being said…” he leaned back in his seat, “I still can’t be certain that she’s been having the same issue yet.”

                Neo tapped Roman again and held out another note. _So what will you do?_

                He smirked. “I honestly haven’t figured that out.”

                _Do you really like her?_

                “Unfortunately, yes. This stays a secret between the three of us, alright? No one else can know, especially Cinder.”

                Junior gave a small nod and Neo typed up another note.

                _Don’t worry, I won’t tell mom on you._

Roman snickered at that. “I am so glad that you have my sense of humor, Neo.”

oooOOOooo

                Ruby seemed a little off to Roman at the moment, not in the sense that she wasn’t Ruby but rather in the fact that upon her waking he received a quick “Hi Roman” and a peck on the cheek before the girl strode over to her dresser and began rummaging through it. His brows knit together as she threw uniforms and dresses across the room carelessly, seeming rather frantic to find…something.

                Roman leaned back on the end post of the Blake’s bed and crossed his arms as he watched Red. “Do I even want to know what you’re doing?”

                “I’m looking for a good outfit to wear on Friday so that tomorrow I don’t have to look for one with my team,” she replied so quickly that Roman barely made out the words.

                “Why can’t you do it with your team? And what’s so important about Friday?”

                “My friends from Signal are coming to visit on Friday and one of them is my former crush and my friends think I still like him so they’re trying to get me to dress up and I must avoid the girl talk at all costs.”

                “Remember to breathe, Red,” Roman remarked dryly.

                Ruby ignored him as she held out pair of dark red leggings and a casual black sweater dress with red lining. “Does this look okay?”

                “Why does it matter?”

                “Because if I don’t find something nice now, Weiss and Yang will force me through a million outfits tomorrow until they find a nice one.”

                “I’m failing to see an issue with this.”

                “Girl talk, Roman, that’s the issue,” Red snapped, and Roman’s eyes narrowed as he tried to recall when she’d started calling him by his given name. Yesterday night, if his memory was in order. Nine nights shouldn’t be this hard to keep track of, he thought to himself.

                “What exactly is wrong with ‘girl talk’? Actually, what do you even mean by that?”

                Ruby groaned and hid her face in the sweater dress. “It’s this highly uncomfortable thing that girls do where they ask you things about the boy you like or fantasize about romance scenarios for you. I’ve been victimized by them because of Yang ever since I got my first crush.”

                Roman snorted. “How terrifying. That outfit’s no good, it’s too modest. Doesn’t draw enough attention to your body.”

                Red lifted her head from the dress and discarded it on the floor before searching her dresser again.

                Roman eyed the garment thoughtfully. “You aren’t going to put it away?”

                “Nope.”

                “Isn’t that a bit messy?”

                “I’m dreaming, it’ll still be clean when I wake up in the morning.”

                “Right. So why exactly is talking about this boy such a big problem for you?”

                “Because I don’t like him anymore.”

                “And…?”

                “And Yang and Weiss think I do.”

                “So…?”

                “So they’ll come up with a bunch of romantic get together scenarios and gush over them or something. Or worse, they’ll create an action plan to get us together. And possibly even follow through with it.”

                “How is that a problem if you don’t like him anymore?”

                “Because if they pester me for too long…I might let it slip that I like you instead,” Ruby murmured, her frantic movement slowing abruptly.

                “So you’re worried that you’ll be forced to tell them about these dreams,” Roman clarified.

                Red hesitated a moment before giving a small nod. There was a stillness in the room that clung to both of them for a long while, the silence deafening as they both sat still as statues. Roman’s eyes glued themselves to Ruby’s back, his mouth formed into a hard line.

                “You can’t keep them a secret forever you know.”

                “I don’t want to tell them yet.”

                “You should,” Roman stated curtly. “They might be able to convince you to stop falling for me.”

                Red turned to look at him, the pain of his sharp response evident in her eyes. “I’m…I’m not sure that I want to be convinced anymore…” she admitted, her voice cracking slightly with the confession.

                Roman swallowed hard as he stared into her eyes, his lips set in a deep frown. “Don’t say things like that,” he replied, mentally kicking himself for the hoarseness of his voice.

                Ruby stared back at him, looking thoroughly lost as she searched his expression. She straightened up from her kneeling position by the dresser and shuffled over to the bookshelf, picking up the black marker they had been making use of and shuffling back to him. “I…I don’t know how long these dreams are going to keep happening...” Red sat down on Roman’s lap and uncapped the marker. He looked away from her, cursing himself internally for not wanting to move her.

                “At this point I’ve gotten to thinking that they might just last for the rest of my life,” Red began tracing her initials on the upper left side of his chest.

                “Red…”

                “I mean, we have no way of knowing, right? Maybe I’ll see you in my dreams like this forever or maybe only until next week. If they ended after tonight, maybe I’d let them know about it. But…I don’t think they will.”

                “You know this isn’t healthy, Red,” Roman murmured as he turned back to look at her. “You can’t keep this sort of thing a secret without suffering for it. And the longer you wait, the angrier they’ll be.”

                “I don’t care if it isn’t healthy.”

                Roman was somewhat taken aback at that statement. He made eye contact with her again, and she held out the marker to him.

                “I can’t pretend that I don’t want you here anymore. It hurts too much.”

                “Ruby…”

                “Don’t,” she placed a finger on his lips to thwart his words. “I already know how stupid this decision is. I’ve been kicking myself for it all day. Just…three nights ago…what we did before I pushed you away…can we try that again?”

                Roman’s voice caught in his throat at her last question. He knew he should stop this. The fact that Ruby was real made everything complicated. The fact that she had these feelings for him made it worse. He should’ve pushed her away. If he had decided to be rational in that moment, he would’ve. Sadly whenever he was with Red, his propensity for rationality seemed almost completely shot. Roman swallowed hard and took the marker from Ruby’s outstretched hand, uncapping once more and scrawling his initials on her shoulder. As he finished the mark and discarded the marker, he brought his other hand up to brush back a few strands of her hair.

                Ruby pressed her cheek against his open palm, and Roman felt his chest tighten in the most uncomfortable fashion. God, she made this so much harder on him. He hesitated slightly as he pulled her closer to him, his lips brushing across hers for a moment before pressing hard against her soft skin with all the hunger he’d held back on the past three nights. He shouldn’t be doing this, he reminded himself as he tangled a hand into her hair. He shouldn’t want her this badly, he scolded himself as he held her firmly against him by the waist. Roman was well acquainted with these reasons, but it seemed that in the heat of the moment he had no intention of listening to himself.

                He pulled away from her momentarily, his half lidded eyes fixated to her flushed face as he brought his hands up to her jawline. He placed another small kiss on Ruby’s lips, soliciting a tiny whimper from the breathless girl. Roman chuckled and placed their foreheads together, smiling bitterly as he felt her arms wrap themselves over his shoulders.

                _“You are going to be the end of me, Red.”_


	7. The Eleventh Dream

The Eleventh Time was Quiet

                Ruby hummed a little as she busied herself with a small doodle of Crescent Rose in the middle of Roman’s chest, writing notes here and there at spots that needed tune ups or replacement parts. Roman had started working with something on his scroll shortly after her arrival, and despite casting occasional amused glances down at her handiwork, he had done nothing to prevent her from using his torso as a canvas. That is, he didn’t say anything until she started frowning at his chest, her silver eyes squinting at a detail that she was thinking of modifying.

                “I wasn’t originally going to ask, but is there a reason that I’m sporting a rather detailed picture of your ridiculously large gardening tool on my chest?”

                “Crescent Rose needs a tune up pretty soon, so I’m mapping out the problem bits.”

                “Ah. Is something wrong with it? You’ve been making that face at your doodle for nearly five minutes now.”

                “No, nothing’s wrong, I’m just trying to figure out if I want to fix it with larger magazines.”

                “Come again?”

                “I’m trying to see if I can fit more ammunition into one round.”

                Roman stared at her as if she had three heads.

                “For the gun part.”

                “Oh…that’s right…” Roman mused. “I nearly forgot about that bit. Where did you even get that thing?”

                “I made it,” Ruby said proudly as she began working on her drawing once more. In her peripheral vision she could see Roman put his scroll down.

                “You made it?”

                “Uh huh.”

                “Aren’t you only fifteen?”

                “What does that have to do with anything?”

                “It’s a pretty advanced weapon design for a fifteen year old.”

                “All the students at Signal make their weapons.”

                “Ah. Well,” Roman reached out a hand to straighten out Ruby’s bangs. “You did a good job with it, considering that you’re annoying as hell when you’re wielding it.”

                Ruby gave him a wry grin and lowered her chin down to his chest. “Thanks.”

                “You’re welcome. Now are you done using my chest as a drawing board?”

                “Heh, yeah.”

                “Good. Come here,” Roman replaced his hand at Ruby’s jawline and pulled her head gently up towards his. She smiled a little wider once their lips were only a few millimeters apart, leaning closer on her own to deliver a tiny peck to his lips. Roman smirked in response and flipped her onto her back, causing her to giggle a little.

                “You can be such a tease sometimes, you know that?” He kissed her neck lightly as she wrapped her arms around him.

                “I’m not a tease,” Ruby giggled before he rose up from her neck and kissed her gently on the lips.

                “Yes you are.”

                “Am not.”

                “Are too.”

                “Am not!”

                Roman grinned and kissed her again, this time slowly, their lips only parting a fraction of a second before they met for another kiss. “So where did you decide to meet your friends tomorrow?” Roman whispered as he broke away.

                “One of the malls downtown,” Ruby replied, pausing only a moment before speaking one more. “You aren’t invited.”

                “You wound me.”

                Ruby snickered. “Come on, if I can’t introduce you to my roommates, what makes you think I can introduce you to other friends?”

                “These friends don’t actually know me.”

                “Your name and face are all over the news, Roman.”

                “Oh, that’s right,” he chuckled lightly, “I nearly forgot about that.”

                “No you didn’t.”

                “Shh, now now, Red, just allow the pretense,” Roman pressed a finger against her lips as she giggled. “I am somewhat concerned about this former crush though.”

                “You shouldn’t be. It’s been ages since I’ve seen Flynt, I might not even recognize him when they all visit.”

                Roman perked and eyebrow at this. “So his name is Flynt, huh?”

                “Yup.”

                “Hm. Your age?”

                “Younger by two months. Speaking of age, how old are you again?”

                “Twenty one,” Roman murmured as he pressed his forehead against hers and smirked.

                “Yet another reason why you can’t meet my friends, even if you weren’t a wanted criminal.”

                “I still fail to see how a six year age gap is a problem in a consensual relationship.”

                “Because of laws.”

                “You know how I feel about rules, Red,” Roman smiled a little wider, “I love breaking them.”

                “I still don’t agree with that you know.”

                Roman chuckled and kissed her again.

                _“I know.”_

oooOOOooo

                “So are you excited?”

                Ruby stole a quick look at Yang as she continued lacing her boots. “Of course I am! I haven’t seen everyone in months! We can talk about our weapons and what’s been happening at Signal, and all the cool things I’ve gotten to do since coming to Beacon!”

                “Not that silly,” Yang snickered. “Aren’t you excited to see Flynt again?”

                Ruby blushed a little, more out of embarrassment than anything else. “I’m excited to see everyone, Yang.”

                “Come on, Ruby, I know you’ve been thinking about him. You’ve had that dazed lost-in-thought look so many times in the past few days that I’ve lost count. And then there are those times when you’ll go from staring off into space to blushing for no reason, just like you’re doing right now!” Yang pointed at her sister triumphantly, as Ruby was indeed blushing profusely and biting her lip in an attempt to keep her from blurting out that it wasn’t Flynt she was thinking of. She had admittedly thought about Roman a little too much since she and her friends planned this get-together.

                “It’s not like that,” she managed to mumble as she busied herself with the laces of her boots.

                “Right. Well tell me all the juicy details tonight, I have to know everything,” Yang said with an eager grin plastered across her face.

                “Okay,” Ruby sighed as she stood from the bed and looked herself over in the mirror. Yang and Weiss had still managed to force her through a million outfits (seeing as how she hadn’t finished looking with Roman) and the resulting outfit happened to be a pair of black leggings and a snug fitting red strapless dress. Ruby had insisted on wearing a black jacket over it, much to Yang and Weiss’s dismay, but at the very least the style was classy, or so Weiss had said. “I’m off!” she announced happily as she nearly pranced out of the room, making her way through Beacon’s campus as fast as she could to the entrance, where her friends were waiting.

                “Ruby, over here!”

                Ruby turned to the left at the entrance and saw a familiar girl with dark brown hair running towards her, followed closely by a dark skinned boy and a red haired girl. “Olive!” Ruby yelled back just before the girl in question tackled her.

                “How’ve ya been?!” Olive asked as Ruby fell flat on her back.

                “Good…better before you tackled me…” she managed to squeak.

                “Oh. Oopsie,” Olive let out a guilty chuckle and detached herself from Ruby.

                “Heya, Ruby,” the dark skinned boy waved casually, “How’s everything?”

                “Didn’t I just ask that question?” Olive cut in.

                “You’re the only one who heard the answer,” the red haired girl noted. “Flynt and I couldn’t hear Ruby very well with you on top of her.”

                “Oh. Sorry ‘bout that Amber.”

                Ruby snickered at the exchange. “I’ve been fine. I’ve missed you guys. How’s everything back at…” Ruby trailed off suddenly as she noticed that Amber and Flynt were holding hands. She glanced at Olive questioningly and the girl responded by blatantly avoiding eye contact and throwing her arms behind her head, which was Olive’s usual way of saying ‘you’ve got the right assumption’. Ruby turned back to Amber and Flynt in surprise. Oh. That was a new development. “Um…how are things back at Signal?”

                Flynt grinned at her question. “Everything’s great.”

oooOOOooo

                Roman never thought he would stoop as low as to follow someone like this. He felt like a bloody stalker, but he had what he considered quite a few decent reasons for watching Red in secrecy. The first was that being seen in public during the early evening was currently a little too dangerous for his tastes; the second was that Ruby had told him not to come. But his biggest reason for even bothering to come in the first place was to permanently confirm his suspicions about the real Red and his dream Red being one and the same.

                So here he was sitting in a back alley outside the shopping mall closest to Beacon, watching Ruby and her friends catch up at an eatery just outside the regular shops. Roman frowned as he caught a better view of the group. A girl with dark brown hair styled almost exactly like Ruby’s sat next her, speaking very animatedly about god knows what, much to her friends’ amusement. A dark skinned boy sat next to the energetic girl, and Roman immediately came to the conclusion that he was Flynt. Odd, not quite what he’d expected. Nor was the girl sitting on the other side of him, considering that the redhead had been leaning her head on the boy since they’d sat down.

                Roman’s eyes narrowed at that, his frown deepening as he turned his gaze back to Red. Hell, she looked slightly uncomfortable from where he was standing, he kind of wondered how those two hadn’t caught on. Probably too lost in the lovesick puppy stage to notice. Roman heard his scroll ring lightly and checked the caller ID. It was Junior. Roman swore under his breath and picked up the call.

                “Make it quick, Junior, I’m in the middle of something.”

                _[“Are you really? Because one of my boys just called me and said he could’ve sworn he watched you duck down into an alley near one of Vale’s malls. Conveniently the one closest to Beacon.”]_

                “And?”

                _[“You’re watching her right now, aren’t you?”]_

                “…How do you do that?”

                _[“I’ve known you for years, Roman, I think I have a good enough idea of how your brain works to know when you’re doing something stupid.”]_

Roman chuckled a bit. “I suppose you got me there.”

                _[“So am I allowed to ask what sparked your sudden desire to become a stalker?”]_

“I’m just confirming my theory once and for all, Junior,” Roman muttered, “I’m not going to follow her around all night.”

                _[“And?”]_

“And what?”

                _[“How’s the theory holding up?”]_

“It’s holding,” Roman said bitterly, “unless I somehow managed to subconsciously guess that Red was going to visit a shopping mall with a few out of town friends today.”

                _[“So that means…?”]_

“In all likelihood she’s having the same dreams. The only other way to confirm is to meet her in person while I’m awake.”

                _[“Good luck on that one.”]_

“Thank you. Any other reason you called?”

                _[“Yeah, you have a job to do in fifteen minutes at the Vale Museum.”]_

Roman swore under his breath and Junior continued.

                _[“And judging by that reaction, you completely forgot.”]_

                “Yes. Thank you for reminding me.”

                _[“Always a pleasure, Roman. Now get up off your ass and go.”]_

“Eloquently put.”

                _[“Shut up. Alright, I gotta go. Don’t do anything too stupid before the next time I see you, got it?”]_

“Yes mom.”

                _[“And cut down on the sass. Later, Roman.”]_

“Later, Junior.”

                Roman smirked as the call ended and pocketed his scroll. He’d have to do something to thank Junior after this. He turned away from the eatery and walked back down the alley, sighing a little at the scene he’d just witnessed. So Red was really there in the dreams. He contemplated this briefly and began to wonder.

                Did she see him as anything more than a dream?


	8. The Twelfth and Thirteenth Dreams

The Twelfth Time was Jarring (the Thirteenth felt stranger)

                Ruby watched Flynt and Amber from a distance, her arms folded over her chest as she leaned on a wall of the store they were perusing. Olive was standing a few feet away from her, searching a t-shirt rack for any design she found funny.

                “How long have they been like that?” Ruby finally spoke up, gaining Olive’s attention immediately.

                “Hm?” Olive glanced up at Ruby in time to watch her friend nod in the direction of Amber and Flynt. “Oh. About a month and a half. Trust me, they were even more obnoxious when it started.”

                Ruby recounted the past month in her head. “Why am I only just learning about it now?”

                Olive’s dark green eyes darted back to her friend, her expression one of surprise, and maybe a little pain. “I wanted to tell you Ruby,” Olive murmured, “Amber said you’d take it better like this. I didn’t want to go behind her back.”

                “So you let her go behind mine?”

                “No I—“ Olive groaned, “You know that you, Amber and Flynt are the only people who can tolerate me for more than five minutes. If I’d told you when she was keeping it a secret I would’ve risked my friendship with both of them. And with you away at Beacon…I wouldn’t have anyone.”

                Ruby swallowed hard as she stared at Olive. “So she caught you between a rock and hard place, huh?”

                Olive nodded meekly. “You aren’t angry with me, are you?”

                Ruby shook her head in response.

                “I’m sorry…I know you had a thing for Flynt—“

                “It’s not that that’s bugging me,” Ruby interjected, “I don’t have a crush on him anymo—“

                “You don’t?”

                Ruby glanced over at Olive’s highly confused frown. “No…I don’t…”

                “But you’ve been making your crush face all night.”

                “My—what in the world is a crush face? I don’t have a crush face!”

                “Yes you do, you do that thing where you’re all silent and staring off and then you’ll just blush out of nowhere—see you’re doing it!” Olive pointed at Ruby childishly as she was, once again, blushing and biting her lip to keep from blurting out anything that had to do with Roman.

                “I-It’s got nothing to with Flynt, okay?” Ruby stammered, her eyes darting downward and gluing themselves to the floor.

                “You have a new crush?” Olive nearly shouted before quieting herself at the tail end of her question. “As your hair twin, I insist upon knowing who.”

                “Olive!”

                “Okay, fraternal hair twin. Come on, I wanna know! I probably don’t even know him, so what’s the harm?”

                “Actually you probably do know him,” Ruby muttered bitterly, “well know of him, at least.”

                “Oh…is it a celebrity crush?”

                “What? No!”

                “Then who?!” Olive began clinging to Ruby like a little toddler. “Teeeeeellllll meeeeeee…..”

                “Oliiiiive!”

                “Pleeeeeeaaassse!”

                “I can’t, okay?”

                “Whyyyyyyy?”

                “It’s complicated, okay? I haven’t even told my team about it!”

                Olive pouted at that but ceased her clinging. “Fiiiine…” she mumbled in defeat.

                Ruby blinked before awkwardly patting her on the back. “Sorry?”

                “It’s okay…”

oooOOOooo

                Roman didn’t know why he’d felt compelled to join Ruby on her bed. He barely trusted the thing to hold Ruby’s weight alone, let alone his weight combined to that, yet something about her right now seemed…off. She didn’t look at him as he joined her, and Roman frowned a little before reaching his arm around her waist and pressing a small kiss onto the side her neck.

                “Amber started dating Flynt over a month ago,” she began quietly as he pulled her closer to him.

                He kept silent, partially because he had no idea what to say and partially because he figured she probably had more to get off her chest.

                “And she made Olive keep it a secret from me.”

                “She didn’t want you to know?” Roman thought back to how adamantly the redhead he’d seen had clung to her new boyfriend, finding it a little odd that she’d told the energetic girl not to say anything.

                “Not until they visited apparently,” Ruby stated bitterly, “They thought I’d take it better if they told me in person. Funny how they didn’t actually do that.” There was a small pause before Ruby continued. “Amber was the first person I told when I got a crush on Flynt—second, technically, if you count Yang—but she was the first person outside of my family that I trusted with it. So why…” Ruby faltered a little and looked over at Roman, her eyes watery with tears on the brink of falling. “Why was I the last to know about her feelings for him?”

                He frowned at that, using his thumb to wipe away the first tear as it fell. “Red…” Roman paused a moment as he scoured his brain for possible words of comfort. Not giving a damn about most people had a lot of upsides—skill at consoling people you _did_ care about wasn’t one of them. “Everything will be okay…”

                “No it won’t!” Ruby refuted as she shifted away from him. Roman mentally kicked himself repeatedly for even bothering to speak.

                “Ruby…”

                “Everything’s not okay, alright?! My best friend started dating my former crush behind my back and told my other best friend not to breathe a word of it to me and the only reason I’m upset it because she chose not to tell me! But when I got home and told my teammates they all sent their sympathies because she stole him from me even though that isn’t what I cared about! I had to listen to them verbally bash her for stabbing me in the back when I just wanted to know why she didn’t tell me first! And the only person that knows why I’m really upset is you and you’re just a figment of my imagination!”

                Roman’s frown deepened at Ruby’s last sentence. He supposed that answered his question from earlier. “What if I wasn’t a figment of your imagination?” he nearly covered his mouth after he unconsciously blurted out the question. He hadn’t intended on bringing it up this soon, but now it was too late to take it back, considering that Ruby had already turned to look at him, her eyes widened with shock as her breath escaped her lips in short shallow sobs.

                “T-That’s impossible…” she murmured, her broken voice suffixed by a small hiccup as Roman raised a hand to her face and wiped away a few more stray tears.

                “Admittedly that was my first thought too,” he replied flatly, “however, shockingly enough, this haphazardly furnished dorm room of yours does indeed exist.” Roman considered mentioning the fact that he’d further confirmed by checking up on her whereabouts that day before coming to the conclusion that it would sound far too creepy.

                “Prove it,” Ruby managed to say in a somewhat stronger voice.

                “Hm?”

                “Prove that you’re real.”

                “Well that’s one of those things that’s a little difficult to prove in the middle of dream, Red…” Roman sat up on the bed and mulled over the possible ways to confirm his existence to her. Part of him felt like simply turning around and saying he had been joking about being real, but sadly that was not the part he was listening to. “Ah, I know,” Roman smirked as he turned to Ruby. “Why don’t I tell you something that I couldn’t tell you about unless I wasn’t a figment of your imagination?”

                “Such as?”

                “Such as what I did this evening. It’ll probably be in the news in a few days’ time, but until then there’s no way you could know about it, right?”

                “You want to tell me your most recent criminal exploits as proof?”

                Roman shrugged. “If it works.”

                Ruby sat up and rubbed the tears away from her eyes. “Alright,” she mumbled, “what sort of terrible thing did you do this evening?”

                “I robbed the Vale Museum.”

                Ruby paused, her brow knit together in confusion as she looked up at him. “Why?”

                “Wealthy client wanted a piece of a popular exhibit for his own personal gallery, so I relieved the museum of it.”

                “…What was the piece?”

                “An ‘ancient’ Ursa skin,” Roman replied nonchalantly as he leaned back on his elbows, and he heard Red snicker. “What?”

                “You can’t keep a dead Ursa’s skin, they decay too quickly.”

                “Well I know that, and you know that, but my client doesn’t know that and I intend to keep it that way. Especially since he paid me quite generously for it.”

                “Really? How much did he pay you?”

                “Enough to pay the rent of all my apartments for six months and then some.”

                “That’s a lot, isn’t it?”

                “I currently have ten apartments so yes, big check, lots of zeros.”

                “Hm. I guess I’ll have to check the news tomorrow to see if you’re telling the truth,” Ruby sniffled a bit and lowered herself down onto Roman’s chest. “Though…I’m pretty sure you being real makes this worse, doesn’t it?”

                Roman chuckled as he brought a hand up to pet Red’s hair. “You’re telling me.”

                “Roman.”

                “Yes?”

                “Thanks for trying to make me feel better.”

                He smiled and kissed her gently on the forehead.

                _“Anytime, Red.”_

oooOOOooo

                Ruby knew by now that despite her normal preference, listening to her heart in these dreams was a very stupid idea. The only thing that made the action more stupid was namely the fact that she had just learned how very real Roman likely was. It was bad enough that she had been falling for a ghost of him, but actually _him_ …now that was a whole new level of bad. But apparently her heart had shut off any amount of warning against people like him, for despite her new knowledge the first thing she did upon entering his dream-apartment was lay down on top of him, soliciting a small grunt on his part.

                “Oi…” he spoke up in a strained tone, “Wake me up and warn me before you do things like that…”

                Ruby planted her face flat onto Roman’s chest, her arms resting at her sides as she spoke up. “I am a horrible human being.”

                “…Is it safe to assume that you watched the news today?”

                “Yea.”

                “And the robbery was a featured story.”

                “Yea.”

                “So how does that make you horrible?”

                “Because I still wanna kiss you.”

                There was a pause of silence before Roman broke into a small fit of laughter. Ruby glared up at him, but it did little good as her glare just seemed to make him laugh harder. “Dear god, Red,” he choked out, “Sometimes you simply have the most irrational ideas!”

                “It’s not irrational! I’m not supposed to like kissing you!”

                “You’re preaching to the choir on that one.”

                Ruby fumed a little as Roman’s laughter died down and he brought a hand up to caress her cheek. “You’re supposed to be my enemy…”

                “And you’re supposed to be mine,” Roman smiled, “Sadly I’ve had a limited amount of self-control since I figured out that you were real. At least not enough to break things off.”

                “How long have you known…?”

                “For sure? This dream would happen to be the fourth since the day I confirmed it.”

                “So…”

                “I learned on the same evening that you decided to stop restraining your feelings for me,” Roman noted with a smirk, “And much to my dismay, kissing you is addictive.”

                Ruby blushed a little at that. “So you already considered ending it…”

                “Yes.”

                “Why didn’t you…?”

                “You stated the reason yourself, Red.” Roman pressed a finger under her chin and guided her face up to his. “We have no idea how long these dreams are going to last. I’m not patient enough to restrain myself forever.” He pulled her into a small, soft kiss that caused Ruby to let out a muffled whine. “Especially when you react like that,” he breathed as pulled away.

                “We shouldn’t,” Ruby stammered as Roman brought both hands up to cup her cheeks. She kept her eyes shut, not daring to look at him for fear that she would lose composure.

                “I know.”

                Roman brought his lips back to hers and she responded much more eagerly than she should have, throwing her arms over his shoulders and pulling him closer to her. This nightly relationship in all its briefness could be the death of her, and yet she didn’t want to end it. She didn’t want to acknowledge that he was real either. She needed to think about this, carefully, in the passing days.

                Roman broke away from Ruby momentarily and flipped her onto her back, kissing her once more before pulling away and resting at her side. She turned to him, a frown marring her features as he placed yet another kiss on her forehead.

                “We need to stop this…” she murmured weakly.

                Roman’s response came in the form of a bitter laugh.

                _“It’s only a dream.”_


	9. The Twenty Seventh Dream

The Twenty Seventh Time

                It had been two weeks since he’d told her. Two weeks since they agreed to ignore the impending consequences like blatant idiots. Two weeks since he had begun binging on smoking breaks to ease the stress of knowing how screwed over he’d be when Cinder began moving again. Roman was somewhat disgusted with how good he and Ruby had become at playing pretend. By daytime they acted like the worst of enemies and by nightfall their affair continued, hidden from those who would see it wrong for them to care about each other.

                For the most part the dreams they shared remained happy, the problems of the world nearly forgotten as they shared affection, played around, and discussed everything under the sun except for Roman’s job and Ruby’s friends. There had been a few arguments, often when one of them shined a light on the elephant in the room, forgetting momentarily that there were things they’d never agree on. Roman had become more agitated day after day, as despite his ever growing affection for Red, in nine days he knew it would all go to hell. As soon as Cinder’s plan pressed forward, the rift keeping them on opposite sides of the playing field would rip them apart like tissue paper.

                Roman blew out one last puff of smoke and snuffed out his cigar as Neo entered his warehouse office. The woman paused before typing up a small note on her scroll.

                _Thinking of her again?_

                Roman sighed and glanced out the window of his office to see Cinder, Mercury and Emerald chatting about god knows what. “Not here, Neo,” he replied quietly as he looked back at her. She quickly deleted the note and typed another.

                _Oops._

                He let out a small laugh at that. “It’s fine,” he breathed as he walked back to the table he was using to lay out the jobs Cinder had given him. “Did you need something?”

                _Cinder wanted to make sure you were making progress in the preparation for your first job._

                “Why?”

                _She must’ve noticed you stopping to light yourself a cigar every five minutes. It’s kinda hard to miss._

Roman sighed and sat down, leaning his elbows on the work table. “Tell her to stop being concerned, I’m nearly done preparing and I’ll be finished long before nine days’ time.”

                _It’s not enough anymore, is it?_

                “What isn’t enough?”

                _The dreams. You want to see her when you’re awake._

                “Didn’t I just say that now isn’t the time or place?”

                _Fine. Are we going to The Club later?_

                “Yeah.”

                _Buy me some ice cream?_

                “Anything for your secrecy, Neo,” Roman smiled.

                Neo smirked as she put away her scroll and left the office. Roman sighed after she left, realizing that she was all too right—he did want to see Red right now, despite how impossible and imbecilic that would be. He vaguely wondered if Ruby felt the same way before brushing it off as an irrelevant thought. They both lived lives far too different to simply run into each other without causing trouble.

oooOOOooo

                It’d been two weeks since she’d begun spiraling. Two weeks since the reality of her shared dreams with Roman became clear. Two weeks since she was stupid enough to ignore the consequences and continue falling for him. Two weeks of the best and worst moments of her short life. Ruby had started learning to hide it; by day she played the innocent, awkward Huntress in training within the halls of Beacon—same as she still was—and by night she played that of the innocent, awkward teen falling hard and fast for the wrong man. She disgusted herself with how easily she could feign hatred for Roman when instead she felt something akin to love. She still hesitated at the thought of saying that to him. It was probably too early.

                “Ruby, are you okay?”

                “Hm?” Ruby looked up to see Yang looking at her with concern written all over her face. “Yeah, I’m fine. Why?”

                “Well you’ve been unusually quiet lately,” Weiss spoke up, “Not that I really mind that change, but it’s starting to get creepy.”

                “I’ve just had a lot to think about,” Ruby replied sheepishly. It wasn’t a lie—by day there was school and the investigation of the White Fang to help Blake with, and by night…there was Roman.

                “Okay then,” Yang shrugged and continued eating her lunch.

                “Blake, um, did you find out anything else about of the White Fang?” Ruby spoke up again.

                Blake shook her head in response. “Nothing more than the fact that they’ve been too quiet lately.”

                “Maybe we managed to stop their plans,” Yang offered.

                “Or maybe they’re just riding the heat out,” Weiss said pointedly.

                “That’s what I’m afraid of,” Blake murmured. “Ironwood and his troops return to Atlas in a week. It’d be like opening a floodgate for the White Fang. Security would be at its weakest in the first few days after their departure. And then there’s Torchwick to consider…”

                Ruby stiffened a little at the mention of Roman, but she let it slide off her back. “What about him?”

                “No one’s seen him in over a month, not since he escaped prison,” Yang noted, “Or if they have seen him they’ve been keeping quiet.”

                “I don’t get it,” Weiss remarked, “Prison escapees don’t just vanish into thin air. Especially when they’re on death row.”

                Ruby resisted the urge to cringe—that was right, Roman had the death penalty on his head. She kept trying to forget that.

                “He’s probably riding out the heat too,” Ruby murmured.

                “Probably.”

                Ruby drowned out the sound of her friends’ voices as she turned her attention to the window and watched the relatively bleak skyline. The rain in Vale had been falling for a few days, enough to make a muddy mess of the scattered grassy islands and rivers of a few streets. Vale had been dreary with the end of the Vytal Festival, what with Sun and Neptune returning home, upcoming exams and rumors that Ozpin might be resigning. Beacon had gone quiet to a near eerie extent. Ruby couldn’t help but shudder at the thought that the events that occurred at the start of the Vytal Festival were just a preview of what was to come, for when whatever was coming started, she would find herself against Roman once more.

                And she wasn’t sure she could face him as an enemy any longer.

oooOOOooo

                Ruby knew something was upsetting Roman when she entered his bedroom. He always smoked when something was wrong. There was the off occasion when he’d try to light a cigar in the midst of a pleasant moment (more enjoyable that way, he’d say), but that was different. During those moments he’d at least stay on the bed with her, often opting to cuddle or chat or crack jokes about something small and embarrassing that Ruby would blurt out a little too often. When he was upset he’d gravitate towards the window, with one arm folded over his chest and the other poised at his lips, holding the lit cigar steady as he kept his eyes trained on the artificial night below.

                At one point in the past two weeks an argument had gotten so heated that Roman pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his night stand and stomped over to the window, muttering all the while about how “no one had ever pushed him to the point where he needed them”. Incidentally he’d eaten through half the pack before they’d settled the issue. He’d been rather pleased to find them unused the next morning, remarking the following night to Ruby that their purpose was strictly work-stress related.

                Right now, at least, Roman hadn’t broken out his secret stash. Ruby stopped momentarily at the nightstand to pick up the black marker they still used on a nightly basis before slowly closing the distance between them.

                “Do you want to talk about what’s bothering you?” Ruby murmured as she uncapped the marker and scrawled her initials in their usual place.

                “No,” Roman stated curtly as he kept his eyes facing the dark, uncharacteristically empty streets of Vale.

                “Is it work related?”

                “Some of it.”

                “What’s the part that isn’t about work?”

                “Ruby…”

                “You can tell me if it isn’t about work, right?” Ruby brought a hesitant hand up to Roman’s cheek and he reluctantly turned to look at her. “Please Roman.”

                “You’re pushing,” he hissed through clenched teeth.

                “And sometimes I need to with you,” she countered, “Otherwise you’ll just sit here moping.”

                “I’m not moping.”

                “You’re doing the Roman-equivalent.”

                He perked an eyebrow at that and blew a puff of smoke into her face, making her cough and sputter madly.

                “Roman, that’s gross!” Ruby turned away from Roman momentarily as she continued her coughing fit. She could hear him chuckle at her predicament.

                “Serves you right for pushing,” he murmured lightly. Ruby felt his fingers under her chin as he brought her face to his and kissed her gently on the lips. “Have a little patience with me, Red.”

                “I am patient with you,” she pouted and he simply smirked and kissed her again.

                “Not patient enough. Now then…” Roman leaned down and hoisted Ruby into his arms bridal style, soliciting a loud squeak from her as she clung to him for dear life and hid her face in the crook of his neck. She kicked her legs a little in retaliation.

                “I-I can walk on my own!”

                “I don’t trust you to,” Roman breathed as he made his way for the bed. The heat in Ruby’s face spread from ear to ear like wildfire as he placed her down on the bed gently.

                “You just love teasing me, don’t you?” Ruby pouted.

                “It is fairly enjoyable, yes,” he smirked he crawled over top of her and kissed her once more, tugging at her lower lip slightly as he pulled away. He grinned impishly at her for a moment before leaning back in for more, and Ruby kissed him back with a passion that grew with each new meeting of their lips, her arms wrapping around his neck as his fingers tangled into her hair. After a few long moments they came up for air, both flushed and breathless as Roman wandered down to nip at her neck. She whined a little at the feel of his teeth grazing her skin, her eyes fluttering shut as her neck craned back instinctively.

                “I swear Red, if I had any less restraint, you would not have clothing on right now,” Roman growled.

                “Thought we agreed to wait until I was ready,” Ruby whispered.

                “We did,” Roman replied as he pressed a soft kiss into her neck to let her know that he’d calmed down. “That being said, your reactions at times make it obscenely hard for me to behave myself.”

                “I can’t help it…”

                “Try?”

                “Mkay…”

                Roman sighed and pressed another kiss onto her neck as he laid down beside her and let one hand travel down to her waist. They sat there in silence for a moment; Ruby busied her hands by straightening out his hair and he fiddled with the creases of her night shirt until he decided to speak once more. “May I ask you a somewhat odd question?”

                “Sure.”

                Roman paused a moment before speaking again. “Have you ever wished this was real?”

                Ruby’s brow knit together in confusion. “I thought it was…?”

                “Not the part where you’re really here and so am I. That’s not what I meant.”

                “So what do you mean…?”

                “Have you ever wished this wasn’t a dream?”

                Ruby felt her body go rigid as her gaze shot towards Roman, a small lump forming and attempting to clog her throat as she opened her mouth to speak. “Constantly,” she managed to squeak, her voice barely a cracked whisper as she realized just what Roman was upset about. It was the inevitable truth that it would be entirely impossible for them to see each other anywhere but here.

                Roman frowned and brought his hand up to caress her cheek. “Then let’s meet somewhere,” he murmured, causing Ruby’s head to whip over towards his smirking expression.

                “We’d be caught!”

                “Not necessarily,” Roman replied evenly, “I spent quite a lot of time thinking this over today, and I’ve thought of a few places that might work.”

                “Are you sure?”

                “Ninety five percent.”

                “I’d prefer it if you were one hundred percent sure.”

                “And I’d prefer it if you were naked right now,” Roman said bluntly, “but hey, I can live without that.”

                Ruby glared a little at him for the comment but he simply shrugged his shoulders. “Fine. Where would we meet?”

                “The club that my buddy runs might work. He could lend us the keys to one of the lockable back rooms and we could make use of strategically timed entrances and exits.”

                “Any other places possibly not on the shady side of town?”

                Roman smirked a little wider and pulled himself off the bed, beckoning Ruby to join him at the window. Her brow furrowed in confusion as she stood and followed him, leaning past him a little to glance out at the eerily still version of Vale below. “There’s a park two blocks down that alley,” Roman noted as he pointed to a small lane to his right. “Summershade Park if I’m remembering the name properly. The place is completely uninhabited during constant rain.”

                “So…?”

                “There’s a rather large willow tree at the edge of it. Really big bugger. When it rains the leaves form an unbroken canopy that’ll keep out the rain until it decides to come down in buckets.”

                “Are you actually suggesting that we meet under a damp willow tree in the middle of an abandoned public park?”

                “Only place on the not shady side of town I can think of. Unless you had a better idea. Besides, we can only use it when it rains a little.”

                “It’s supposed to continue raining tomorrow,” Ruby offered, “Lighter than the heavy downpours we’ve been getting too. Maybe I can manage to swing by after I get back from class and finish some of my homework?”

                Roman smirked and leaned in to kiss her on the forehead.

                _“See you then, Red.”_


	10. The First Meeting

The First Meeting

                If one looked up the definition of a nervous train wreck, Ruby was rather certain that at the moment, she’d be the accompanying picture. She’d had more concern for the weather than she did her studies, often scrawling only a few words before glancing out the window to make sure that the rain had remained steady. Weiss, Yang and Blake had all noticed, as had team JNPR, and the group had pushed a few questions as to the cause of her skittishness, but she brushed it off as uneasiness about exams. Jaune and his team had accepted that, however her team was still very skeptical. She didn’t blame them; her excitement was far from contained.

                The thought of meeting Roman at the park shouldn’t have made her so happy. After all, the endeavor in itself was a risky one, and with how fidgety Ruby had been all day her friends were sure to at least try following her. But that didn’t change much for her. She wanted to see him, regardless of the consequences. This was why, by the time Ruby finished the first half of her homework, she’d immediately left the library under the guise of ‘going on a walk’. With dusk quickly approaching, Ruby strolled leisurely down the halls of Beacon. She stopped by her locker momentarily to retrieve Crescent Rose—she might not have expected trouble but she didn’t want to be caught unarmed (or draw attention with the deployment of her locker to her location). Upon reaching the main entrance, Ruby lifted her hood and stepped out into the rain.

                She paused a mere moment, hesitating slightly before breaking into a full, semblance-aided sprint in an effort to lose any possible tails. Not trusting her team mates didn’t sit well with her, but the thought of them catching her with Roman caused a sickening flip in her stomach. The depth of her feelings for him only made it harder to speak of, and despite the fact that Yang and the others would inevitably learn about this, she still wished to hide it. Ruby reached the streets of Vale in record time and pulled out her scroll to look up directions to Summershade Park. As the screen loaded her gaze darted around to verify that she had not been followed. After confirming that she was indeed alone, she followed the route her scroll presented to her until she found herself at the entrance to a very empty park.

                Ruby’s eyes scanned the area until she spotted an enormous willow tree whose vine-like branches had formed an unbroken blanket flowing all the way to the ground. This had to be the tree Roman had described, as it sat conspicuously at the very far edge of the park and was easily the largest bit of foliage in sight. Ruby hesitated once more, a knot tightening in her chest as, for a short moment, the thought came to mind that this was all in her head. That, like the many times before, it wasn’t real. Ruby shuddered at the prospect but pressed forward, her footsteps slow and steady. She caught herself struggling to breathe, and her eyes trained solely on the willow tree before her until she stood in its shadow. She swallowed hard, her hand trembling a bit as she pushed away the canopy and stepped into the naturally occurring room behind it.

                Despite previously drawn out expectations, she still found herself frozen from the sight before her, for there he was, seated on a picnic blanket at the base of the tree. His bowler hat and jacket sat next to his cane, discarded as he fiddled with his lighter in an attempt to light the cigar between his lips, swearing under his breath here and there at the disobedient thing. Ruby snorted at his predicament, and his gaze shifted immediately to her, his lighter flipping closed with a small click as he threw it aside and placed the unlit cigar back in his jacket pocket. He smirked, the uneasiness that had been apparent only moments before all but forgotten.

                “Hello Red.”

oooOOOooo

                 Roman had managed his excitement well over the course of the day, especially since Neo had been there to nudge him when he became a little too over-zealous. But now that Ruby was standing right in front of him, he was having a little more trouble with restraint. His eyes travelled across her momentarily, noting quickly that both her cape and her scythe were present.

                “I can see that you brought your weed cutter along,” he remarked as he gestured to the collapsible weapon.

                “And you brought your cane.”

                “Touché.”

                Ruby walked towards him hesitantly; his eyes followed her as she found her place next to him and pulled her hood down. Roman leaned back onto the tree base and resisted the urge to dive towards her lips right away. Seeing her in person only made the fantasy of the dreams more apparent. He lifted a hand up to her cheek, his fingertips brushing her cheek lightly before her hand rose to his and pressed his palm flat against her skin. His breath caught in his throat for a moment—every nightly encounter preceding this could not begin to compare with how much better this simple action felt in reality. In a dream, the touch would’ve felt fleeting, the softness and warmth of her skin only registering on the surface of his palm as his brain loosely connected the gesture to a loving thought.

                But here, the feeling lingered—instead of dulled sensation of smooth warmth, Roman felt the heat of her cheek burn against his palm until the temperature of her skin settled to match his. He leaned towards her, anxious to feel her lips against his as his hand traveled back to tangle into her hair. She slowly followed suit, and as their lips pressed firmly against each other, Roman could’ve sworn that Red had never tasted sweeter. He growled a little in his throat as he deepened the kiss, his hand pulling her closer while she tilted her head to the side in an attempt to reach his lips better. After a long moment they broke apart, breathless as they shared the small expanse of air between their parted mouths.

                “And I thought kissing you felt good _before_ ,” Roman let out a small hushed laugh, and Ruby gave him a small, dazed smile.

                “You’re telling me,” she whispered back before leaning into his lips for more. They continued, the string of kisses growing hungrier with each passing moment as Ruby’s small stifled moans rang in his ears and his hand tangled into his tresses. Roman felt the heat in his body rising as her hands balled into fists around the fabric of his shirt sleeves, and he resisted the strong urge to pull her body flat against his own. If he did that in this moment, he might lose himself to his own desire. It was a few minutes before they parted again, both of them panting as all contact slowly ceased.

                “That was far too much fun,” Roman mumbled as he leaned back onto the willow tree’s trunk. Ruby only managed a small nod in agreement. “Oh come on, Red, at least try to remind me that I’m supposed to hate you.”

                “Do you want to hate me?”

                “God no,” he chuckled, his eyes fluttering closed as he leaned his head upwards. “That’s half the problem right there.” Roman smiled as he felt Ruby move towards him and undo a portion of his shirt.

                “Undressing me already, are we?”

                “You wish.”

                He chuckled as he felt her hand run against a familiar patch of skin in an attempt to dry it before he heard the sound of a marker being uncapped and sensed the felt tip trace her initials in their usual spot. “Now I suppose there’s the question of where I’m going to write on you…it’d be bad form if we took the time to keep this a secret and let your team see my initials on your shoulder.” Roman’s eyes traveled across Red’s body thoughtfully as the girl in question flushed bright pink. “Do you trust me?” he inquired after a moment.

                “Depends on what you want me to trust you with…” Ruby replied cautiously.

                “If I asked to unbutton a small section of your blouse would you let me?” Her eyes narrowed at that and he raised a hand in his defense. “I’ve no intention of feeling you up, by the way.”

                After a pause, Ruby sighed and managed a meek nod. “I’ll trust you. Just don’t make me regret doing so.”

                Roman smirked and leaned towards her, his fingers slowly working at the buttons of her blazer, then her vest, and finally he undid the bottom half of her blouse to reveal the skin on her stomach. He absentmindedly tugged the high waist of her plaid skirt down slightly to make the small patch a little larger, soliciting a small squeak of discomfort from Red. He glanced up at her and did his best not to laugh at how blatantly anxious she looked—Christ she was modest. Roman instead put on a reassuring smile just as she closed her eyes, and he took the marker from her and quickly wrote his initials onto her upper abdomen. Afterwards he buttoned up the blouse, vest, and blazer before leaning in and placing a small kiss on her lips.

                “You really are sinfully innocent,” he remarked as she opened her eyes and glared at him.

                “Shut up.”

                “Ah…my dearest Red, whatever will I do with you…” Roman chuckled and leaned his head on her shoulder. She pouted and pretended to ignore him. They sat in silence for a moment before he spoke again. “How much longer do you have?”

                “…A few more minutes at best,” she replied quietly.

                “Do you want to do this again?”

                “Yes.”

                “Hm.” Roman planted a small peck on Ruby’s neck before pulling away and retrieving a slip of paper from the pocket of his trousers. “Do you have your scroll on you?”

                “Of course.”

                “Type in that number under that name on your contacts.” Roman held the note out to Ruby, and she took it and squinted at it.

                “…Prankmaster?”

                “I figured that’d be a touch better than ‘Crimelord’,” he remarked with a smirk.

                Ruby shrugged and pulled out her scroll. “We should come up with codes,” she spoke up as she entered the number. “So we know when it’s really us and not someone else.”

                “My thoughts precisely. Text me the code you want to use.”

                Ruby made a small nod without looking up from her scroll, and Roman felt his scroll vibrate in his pocket. He took it out and snorted at the message.

                _{Beat your high sco-ore~}_

                “You know, just for that, you are going into my phone as ‘Little Sore Winner’.”

                “Hey!”

                “Sending a message back now.”

                Roman smirked and typed in a short phrase to work as a code.

                _{Guess what horrible thing I did today}_

Ruby glared at him for it, but he simply shrugged as he rose to his feet and picked up his jacket. “What? If you taunt me, I’ll taunt back.” Roman slipped the white coat over his shoulders and straightened out his dress shirt and tie. “Your place tonight?”

                “Yeah,” Red stood as he replaced his hat onto his head and buttoned his coat.

                “Hm.” Roman picked up his cane and lifted the picnic blanket into his arms, folding it quickly before resting it over one fore arm. He smirked and leaned in once more to kiss her.

                “Until tonight then.”


	11. The Twenty Eighth Dream

The Twenty Eighth Time

                “So I’m going to ask this one more time, just in case you didn’t hear me: are you completely out of your mind?”

                “Not quite sure,” Roman remarked as he took another sip of brandy and smirked at Junior. His best friend had been at this ‘insane’ spiel for so long now that he couldn’t help but be amused. Junior had always played the role of keeping Roman in check when he decided to get reckless, so his opposition to paying Red a visit was far from surprising.

                “You’re not sure?” Junior rested his elbows on the table and rubbed his temples. “You’re telling me that you willingly walked out to a public park in the middle of the day to go on a secret date with a girl six years younger than you and you’re not sure if you’ve gone crazy?”

                Roman paused a moment before shrugging in response. “I suppose.”

                “Who are you and what have you done with my best friend?”

                Roman laughed as Junior poured himself his own cup of brandy. “Alright, you caught me, I’m losing my mind.”

                “Yeah well stop losing it,” Junior growled, “You know I can’t bail you out of your problems like I used to.”

                “Wasn’t I the one bailing you out all the time?”

                His best friend simply glared at him. “Watch your sass.”

                “Yes mom.”

                Junior sighed and leaned back a bit. “I know you’ve got no choice with the dreams and all, Roman, I get that. But you should know better on this.”

                “You’re right.”

                “So why do I have the sinking feeling that you’re going to see her again?”

                “Because I am.”

                “Roman.”

                “Yes?”

                “You’re an idiot.”

                Roman smirked. “Probably.”

                Junior rubbed his neck a little and closed his eyes. “If you keep making me worry like this, I’m going to get an ulcer.”

                “If I had a dime for every time I’ve heard you say that then I could retire from the crime business fat and happy.”

                “Please…please tell me that you’re taking this seriously on some level.”

                Roman sighed and leaned his head into his hands. He was more than a little aware of how well placed Junior’s concern was. Roman’s recent actions were akin to playing with fire in a dry rotted building—innately and obviously very stupid. “I am,” he murmured as he looked back towards his best friend.

                Junior eyed him carefully before taking a gulp of his brandy. “Normally I wouldn’t ask, but you do have a way out marked for yourself, right?”

                “I did. I’m not sure if it’s still available.”

                “And now I’m certain that something’s very wrong with you.”

                “You have no idea,” Roman muttered as he took another sip of his brandy.

                “Actually I’m starting to get a pretty good one. You’re insane, for starters.”

                “Thank you for reminding me for the fiftieth time tonight, Junior.”

oooOOOooo

                “You know I don’t think I ever asked you what excuse you used to leave Beacon,” Roman remarked as he watched Ruby sit up in her bed.

                “I said I was going on a walk…” she murmured lightly before letting out a small yawn.

                “Huh. Did they buy it?”

                “I didn’t stick around to find out, but I don’t think they did.” Ruby slid off the bed and shuffled towards Roman. “I think they’re waiting until tomorrow to confront me about it…” Red flopped down beside him gracelessly. “I see that the mark’s still there.”

                He glanced down at his torso, where her initials were still written neatly. “It is. Yours?”

                Ruby blushed a little but lifted her nightshirt away from her abdomen, revealing his initials scrawled just a little below her chest. She replaced the fabric quickly before leaning towards him and nuzzling her head into the crook of his neck. She sat there for a few moments before kissing his skin and speaking. “Doesn’t feel as good here anymore.”

                “Mm. Yeah, it really doesn’t compare to the real thing, does it?”

                “Nope.”

                Roman smirked and pulled Ruby onto his lap, and she lifted away from his neck a little. He brought her in for a slow kiss, the kind that still managed to light his nerves on fire even when he couldn’t feel her as well as he could in the waking hours. “So what do you want to do tonight?”

                “Hm…” Ruby pressed her forehead against his and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Game of cards, maybe?”

                “Not really in the mood.”

                “Why don’t we read together?”

                “You know how I feel about the fairy tales, Red.”

                “Then what should we do?”

                “Hmm…take a bath together?” Roman smirked as Ruby’s face turned the most alarming shade of scarlet. “That was a joke,” he remarked as she began stuttering.

                “N-not funny!”

                “On the contrary, your reactions are nothing short of hilarious,” he chuckled as Ruby tried to push away from him. “How about a board game? You still have a few, right?”

                “Why in the world wouldn’t I? What game do you want to play?”

                “Four in a row?”

                “We might have that.”

                “Or checkers.”

                “Okay.”

                Ruby stood up and walked towards one of the many storage containers at the foot of her bed; Roman’s mouth set into a hard line as he watched her rummage through them. He studied her carefully, wondering when exactly he’d started finding everything about her adorable—maybe even beautiful. The edges of his lips fell into a frown as he realized that the thought of Red getting hurt, whether by him or any of his associates, caused his heart to clench in pain. When had that started? He hadn’t even noticed, and that wasn’t like him. Not more than three weeks ago the thought of seeing her corpse would’ve made him jump for joy, but now…he didn’t even want to think about it. It was beyond horrific to imagine her like that. He needed to test his resolve again.

                “What’s wrong?”

                Roman looked up at Ruby’s concerned expression, having not even realized that he was lost in thought. “Fine,” he breathed, “just thinking.”

                “Work again?”

                He winced at that. “Somewhat.”

                “I won’t ask then. I found four in a row and checkers. Which do you want to play more?”

                Roman tapped the four in a row box lazily and Red shrugged and began setting up the game.

                “Which color do you want?” she asked as she sorted out the chips.

                “Well, red for Red, so…” Roman smirked and laid down on his side. “I suppose I’ll settle for black.”

                “Like your heart?”

                “You wound me.”

                Ruby giggled a bit and pushed the black chips towards Roman. “Prepare to be annihilated.”

                “You assume that I’m going to lay down and let you take the victory.”

                “I’ve crushed you before.”

                “That was because of your semblance. This game isn’t about speed though, it’s about strategy.”

                “You think I can’t handle strategy?”

                “I think you’re up against a crime lord whose main strength is strategic planning.”

                “Is it really? You’ve never seemed very prepared whenever I caught you.”

                “That, my dearest Red, is because you were impossible to plan for.”

                Ruby smirked and placed her first chip in the stand. “Says the supposed master planner.”

                “How often would you expect a fifteen year old to thwart your robberies and find your base of operations?” Roman mumbled lazily as he placed one of his chips.

                “Not very often,” she shrugged, “Though that last part was kind of an accident.”

                Roman perked an eyebrow at that. “You found it by accident?”

                “I kinda…fell through a hole in the ground?”

                Roman sighed and placed a hand over his eyes. “For the sake of my dignity, can you please refrain from telling anyone else that you did that unintentionally?”

                “Our little secret?”

                “Let’s add it to the pile.”

                Ruby snickered and placed another chip, followed closely by Roman placing his last chip and smirking as he pointed out his victory to her. “Best two out of three,” she demanded immediately.

                “Now Red, could it be that you’re just as much of a sore loser as you are a sore winner?”

                “Please?”

                “Hmm…no.”

                “Romaaaaaan!”

                He laughed as she tackled him, the game toppling over in a mess as Ruby forced him onto his back. “You are laughably petty about these games.”

                “Shut up!”

                “Make me,” Roman grinned impishly as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her flat on top of him; her nightshirt rode up a bit as she squirmed. She blushed and turned her eyes away from him, making him smirk. “Aw, look at that, little Red’s all flustered. How adorable.”

                “S-Shut up.”

                “As I said before Red,” Roman brought a hand up to her cheek and coaxed her face back to look at his. “Make me.”

                Ruby leaned in closer to his face and brushed her lips up against his. “But I don’t wanna give you kisses, you’re being mean.”

                “You just want to play until you’ve beaten me,” he chuckled before pressing a small, soft kiss onto her lips.

                “I do not!”

                “Do too.”

                “Romaaaaan!” Ruby pouted and Roman couldn’t help but laugh.

                “Honestly, Ruby, I don’t feel like playing another round. Especially when you’re being this cute, it’s far too distracting.”

                Red grumbled a bit before flopping her head down onto his shoulder. “Meanie,” she mumbled.

                “But of course,” Roman breathed, still smirking lightly. They lay there a moment in silence; Ruby emphasized her moping by drawing small circles on his chest as he brought a hand up to pet her hair. “So tomorrow…you’re busy?”

                “Yea.”

                “Same. How about Friday?”

                “Kinda free in the evening? I’d have to find a more viable excuse than going on a walk to feed my team…”

                “How about Sunday?”

                “Sunday’s good.”

                “Hm. Shall we text a little tomorrow to sort out the details?”

                “Sure.”

                Roman smiled and kissed her on the forehead.

                _“Sounds like a plan.”_

oooOOOooo

                Ruby woke up to a room of agitated teammates the next morning and immediately wished she could go back to sleep. She was right to assume that they hadn’t bought her excuse. They hadn’t believed a single syllable. And now she had almost literally been pulled from her bed by Weiss, Yang, and Blake.

                “Where did you go last night?” Weiss demanded pointedly, her eyes narrowed in a glare and her arms crossed over her chest.

                “Out for a walk,” Ruby replied sheepishly.

                “In the middle of the rain?” Blake spoke next, her voice soft yet heavy with skepticism.

                “I watched you speed off campus, Ruby,” Yang frowned, “Where’d you have to be in such a hurry?”

                “I just wanted to take a walk off campus, kay?”

                “Do you really expect us to believe that? You’re obviously hiding something, Ruby,” Weiss stepped a little closer and put her hands on her hips. “And we all want to know what.”

                “Weiss…”

                “Don’t sit there and lie to us Ruby! Where did you go?!”

                “I went on a walk!” Ruby insisted. Weiss looked as if she was about to blow a fuse before Blake held up a hand to hold her back.

                “Ruby, we all know that isn’t true,” she spoke evenly, “Why can’t you tell us the truth?”

                Ruby paused and frowned, her eyes scanning her team briefly before they fell to the floor. She took a moment to consider telling them before brushing off the idea. If she told them now, they’d try to prevent her from seeing Roman again, and she didn’t want that to happen yet. She paused a moment to wonder when exactly she’d become so self-serving. “It’s complicated…” she muttered, “But I promise it’s nothing bad, it’s just…hard to explain…I can’t tell you guys yet, okay?”

                She looked up to find the girls around her fixed with matching somber expressions, and Ruby wished for a moment that she didn’t have to hide it from them.

                “We should get ready for class,” Yang finally muttered as she made way for her closet, follow shortly by Weiss and Blake. Ruby felt like screaming as they walked away, for at this point, there was no right way to solve this. No matter what, the end result would be messy; it didn’t matter if she kept it a secret or told them, gave Roman up or remained stubbornly attached. Whatever she chose would hurt, badly. Ruby shook off the thought long enough to get ready for classes, the tension between her and her team still blatantly apparent even as they left their dorms. Ruby mentally listed the people she might be able to talk to without receiving a hefty amount of backlash. At the moment, only three came to mind, and she would need their advice, desperately.

                Because she didn’t know what to do anymore.


	12. The Thirtieth Day, Thirty First Dream and Second Meeting

The Thirtieth Day (followed by the Thirty First Time and the Second Meeting)

                Ruby felt immensely ridiculous right now. Not only was she nervous as hell, but she had also resorted to fiddling with the hem of her plaid skirt as a coping mechanism, and it was making her feel far too girly. Pyrrha was busy helping Jaune with homework, and she was trying very, very hard to wait her turn. Even if there was no guarantee that either of them could help her out on this, she needed to talk to someone, and sadly that couldn’t be her team.

                “So…” Jaune managed a light chuckle in an effort to break the ice. “Still worried about exams Ruby? Pyrrha’s a really good study partner, I’m sure she wouldn’t mind helping if you need it.”

                “Um, actually, I’m fine…I’m not too worried…” Ruby managed a barely coherent mumble as she kept her eyes planted on her skirt.

                “Weren’t you worried a few days ago?” Jaune asked cluelessly.

                “What’s wrong, Ruby?” Pyrrha finally spoke up, her voice laced with concern. “You sound troubled.”

                Ruby glanced up at Pyrrha hesitantly before hanging her head once more. “Uh…um, I-I was just wondering if I could have your advice on something…”

                “Of course,” Pyrrha replied.

                Ruby paused as she tried to find a proper way to ask her question. “Um…theoretically speaking, what would you do if you had something to tell someone, but you knew it was going to upset them?”

                “What kinda thing?” Jaune inquired.

                “Um, if you had to tell someone something you’ve done…but you’re sure they’d be upset if you told them, and they’re upset with you because you won’t tell them, what would you do?”

                “Ruby, why are you bringing this up?” Pyrrha spoke up softly.

                “I can’t—it’s really complicated, and I’m not really sure how to explain it right now, but I just—please, I just need a few pointers.” Ruby’s eyes met Pyrrha’s, and they held eye contact for a bit until Pyrrha let out a sigh.

                “I can’t say that I’ve ever really been in a situation like that before…but if it were me, I would probably tell them. They’ll only get more upset if I continue to hide it.”

                “What if…what if it sounded a little insane?”

                Pyrrha’s brow knit together in confusion at that. “What do you mean?”

                “I mean what you need to explain to them…sounds crazy…but it’s still true.”

                “How crazy could it be?” Jaune interjected. “I mean, we’re pretty used to crazy by now, aren’t we?”

                “It sounds more insane than Nora, Jaune. Much more insane.” 

                “You broke the scale?”

                “I decimated the scale.”

                “Oooooh.”

                “Well…that would make it rather hard to believe,” Pyrrha murmured.

                “Yeah…”

                “I would still try though,” she continued, “as ludicrous as whatever you have to say may sound, it’ll still be better than saying nothing at all.”

                Ruby nodded slowly in recognition. “Okay. Thanks Pyrrha,” Ruby stood to leave the library, and as she turned away from the table Pyrrha spoke up once more.

                “Ruby, wait!”

                She turned back to the redhead, whose wore a small concerned frown.

                “Are you really okay?”

                Ruby paused a moment before managing a tiny smile. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

_For now._

oooOOOooo

                “So do you have a decent excuse this time?”

                Ruby gave a sidelong glance towards Roman, who had, only moments before, been delivering tiny affectionate pecks to her neck. She figured that his reasoning for the action was probably along the lines of trying to get her attention, as she had swiped his scroll once more and was paying much more attention to the game than she was to the person she was sitting on. “For tomorrow?” she inquired to Roman as his lips continued to hover over her neck.

                “What else?”

                “It was a simple question, that’s all,” Ruby murmured as she brought a hand up to ruffle the hair on his crown. “Yeah, I’m using Olive as my excuse.”

                “Is Olive aware of this?”

                “Um, yeah, about that. She’s coming with to meet you.”

                Roman lifted his head from Ruby’s shoulder and looked at her quizzically. “I thought you were keeping this a secret.”

                “Olive is the only friend I have right now that knows I’m over Flynt. She’s also been looking for an excuse to get away from Signal for another weekend so I told her I’d help her out and satisfy her curiosity if she could keep her mouth shut.”

                “Can she keep her mouth shut?”

                “Generally, no. But it takes Olive at least two hours to even explain the tiniest secret and apparently at the current moment I’m the only one willing to listen to her for that long.”

                “What about Amber and Flynt?”

                “Why do you think she’s so desperate to get away from Signal?”

                “Ah…relationship troubles?”

                “‘Amber moved to drama town’ quote Olive. Apparently she accidentally let it slip that I was upset about being the last to know about Amber’s crush on Flynt and then Flynt found out a little later that I used to like him so they’ve been having a few rough weeks. And Amber’s been blaming Olive for it.”

                “Hm. How lovely of her.”

                “It’s Amber,” Ruby stated bitterly, “She can be kinda hard to handle when her feathers are ruffled.”

                “So Olive is coming to visit, hm?” Roman let out a low whine. “And here I thought I could have you to myself.”

                “She’s only coming along to our meeting spot, she won’t be breathing over my shoulder all night.” Ruby turned to Roman and pecked him on the lips. “Don’t worry about it.”

                He chuckled at that. “Well I suppose it justifies Neo’s insistence on meeting you.”

                “She insisted?”

                “She doesn’t trust you or me when I’m near you.”

                “Oh.” Ruby mulled over the thought in her brain for a second. “Maybe she can keep Olive company then.”

                “Perhaps. Now…” Roman pulled his scroll away from Ruby and tossed it away lightly before wrapping his arms tighter around her as he nuzzled his face into her neck. He kissed her neck again, lingering a moment before bringing his lips up to her ear. “Can I have you full attention Red?”

                “I was busy.”

                “No you weren’t.”

                “I was in the middle of a lev—“                                                                               

                “Shh, now Red, we both know that you weren’t busy, don’t we?”

                “You just don’t want me to beat your high score again, don’t you?” Roman’s eyes narrowed a little at the comment and Ruby couldn’t help but to snicker.

                “You little—“ Roman began tickling her sides and she let out a yelp as they both fell backwards.

                “H-Hey! Stop it!” Ruby kicked her legs in retaliation and Roman laughed. “Fine, I take it back!”

                “Much better,” he breathed as he halted his attacks and leaned over her.

                “You can be such a baby sometimes, you know that?”

                Roman smirked brought a hand up to her cheek, “Didn’t I say I didn’t want to hear that from you?”

                “Maybe”

                He chuckled and leaned in for a slow kiss. “Then stop saying it.”

                “Make me.”

                _“Maybe I will.”_

oooOOOooo

                By the time Ruby and Olive arrived at the Club the next evening, Ruby could’ve sworn that her friend was vibrating with excitement. She certainly hadn’t shut up in the time it’d taken them to get here.

                “I still can’t believe I’m gonna be the first to meet your secret boyfriend,” Olive bounced around Ruby. “I’m so excited!”

                “I can see that,” Ruby chuckled as she went for the club’s entrance.

                “Isn’t this that one really shady club that Yang told you about? The twenty years and older one that she broke into before coming to Beacon?”

                “That’s the one.”

                “Aren’t we not allowed in here?”

                “Yeah, technically we’re not supposed to, but they don’t really monitor the doors.”

                “So we’re sneaking in? Cool. I feel like a rebel.”

                Ruby snorted as they walked through the entrance and into the dance hall, tugging Olive along by the sleeve as she located the bar. “Excuse me,” Ruby addressed the bearded man behind the counter, and he looked up from his drink. “Are you Junior?”

                “I’m guessing you’re Ruby?”

                “Yup, she’s Ruby!” Olive interjected. “And I’m Olive. Nice to meet you Junior!”

                Junior eyed the girl questioningly as she outstretched a hand to him and hesitated a moment before shaking it. “Okay…nice to meet you…” Junior pulled his hand away after a moment and pulled two sodas out from behind the counter, tossing one to each girl before leaning his elbows on the bar. “Your boyfriend insisted I leave those for you,” he explained. “Speaking of, he happens to be in the second floor booth to your left. And I know you probably won’t with Neo and your friend up there too, but please, please don’t decide to suck face with him in the middle of my club, wait til you’re alone or something.”

                Ruby could feel her cheeks begin to burn as she nodded meekly and quickly strode to her left with Olive right next to her.

                “So you have kissed him!”

                “Olive!”

                “Why didn’t you tell me?!”

                “You didn’t give me the chance to before you asked another question!”

                “Oh. Oopsie. So he’s in the booth up there?”

                Ruby’s eye’s traveled to the elevated booth in front of them and noticed Roman sitting at the table with Neo sitting a little away from him. Ruby smiled a bit, her blush still hot against her cheeks as she nodded. “Yeah, that’s him.”

                “Isn’t that the guy that’s all over the news?”

                “…Yeah.”

                “The one that broke out of jail?”

                “That’s the one…”

                “Oh. Who’s the girl sitting next to him?”

                “That’s Neo. She’s his bodyguard…I think,” Ruby paused and turned to look at her friend. “Why do you ask?”

                Olive continued to stare at the booth as she spoke again. “She’s really cute.” Olive turned to face Ruby. “Is she single?”

                Ruby gaped at her friend. “Olive!”

                “Is she?”

                “How am I supposed to know?!”

                “Huh.” Olive turned back towards the booth and tilted her head.

                “Oh no,” Ruby started. “No, Olive, don’t you dare flirt with her!”

                “Why not? All you told me to do was keep your boyfriend a secret, you never said I had to behave myself. Besides, never hurts to ask.” Olive smirked and skipped towards the booth, and Ruby flailed madly for a moment before running after her.

                “Hello friends!” Olive announced as the two entered the booth and she slid into the seat next to Neo. “You are gorgeous,” Olive spoke to the small woman as she sat down. “Are you dating anyone at the moment?”

                “Olive…” Ruby whined as she sat down next to Roman, who was chuckling a bit from her friend’s animated entrance.

                “Hello Red,” Roman murmured as his laughter subsided.

                “Hi…” Ruby watched Olive carefully as she smiled at Neo; she felt more than a little concerned about the woman’s possible reactions. Neo blinked at the girl’s compliment before pulling out a note pad and scrawling a note that she passed to Roman. He chuckled and passed the note to Ruby. She quickly scanned its content.

                _Why is the Ruby lookalike flirting with me?_

                Ruby looked up at Neo’s questioning gaze. “Because she thinks you’re cute.”

                Neo wrote up another note and showed it to Ruby. _Well I am, but why is she flirting with me?_

                “I don’t really know,” Ruby shrugged, “She likes flirting with cute girls.”

                “I also like dating them,” Olive added. “Hey, why aren’t you speaking?”

                Neo sent a glare in Olive’s direction and was about to write another note before Roman spoke up. “Neo, use your scroll before Junior yells at us again.”

                The woman made a face but pulled out her scroll and typed up a note to show Olive. The girl paused to read it before grinning and looking up at Roman.

                “I like her, can I have her?”

                “She’s not mine to give,” Roman replied with a chuckle as Olive turned back to Neo.

                “I would like it very much if you would go on a date with me,” she said firmly, winning another note from Neo.

                Roman chuckled and turned to Ruby. “Well this is rather unexpected,” he murmured.

                “Yup,” she replied.

                “Maybe we should leave them alone for a bit?”

                “Please. I’m slowly dying of embarrassment over here.”

                Roman chuckled and turned away for a second to finish off his drink; as he did he placed the empty glass back on the table. He glanced back towards Ruby, his smirk wide and playful.

                “Well then, Red, let’s get going.”


	13. The Second Meeting (The First Night)

The Second Meeting Continued into the Weekend

                Roman was definitely pleased to see Red again. Most of him was insanely giddy upon her arrival. And besides the portion of him distracted by her friend’s awkward and blunt advances on Neo, his attention had completely fixated on Ruby. The only problem happened to be his rationality, as instead of being shot, like it should have been, it was instead ever present and loudly reminding him that this meeting, along with everything he’d done in the past month, made him a complete moron. This internal battle, however, had little effect on the game of poker that he was currently winning.

                “Oh come on, Red, quit pouting,” he chuckled, “I’ll split my winnings with you after you’ve run out.”

                “I wanted to play Spit,” she mumbled childishly.

                “And I wanted to sit at the table, not _under_ it,” Roman glanced up at the dining table briefly before looking back to Ruby and smiling. “Consider this our compromise.”

                “All in,” Ruby mumbled and tossed the rest of her candy into the center.

                “Hm, think I’ll call,” Roman grabbed a handful of candies from his rather large pile and placed them down with hers.

                Ruby frowned and tossed her cards into the middle. “Take your winnings okay?”

                “You do know that you have four of a kind, right?”

                “Yeah, but they’re just Jacks. With my luck you definitely got a better hand.”

                Roman chuckled and revealed his cards. “How right you are. Royal flush is higher than four of a kind. I win.”

                Ruby let out a low groan and flopped down onto her back as he collected his winnings. Roman laughed, popping a small candy in his mouth before grabbing another and laying down next to her. “You know Red, you did do well for your first game of poker. You only have one problem.”

                “Hn?”

                “Your poker face? It’s nonexistent. You are legitimately the worst liar I have ever met in my entire life.”

                Ruby glared at Roman for the comment, but he simply smirked as he unwrapped the second candy and held it out to her. She frowned a little before snatching it from his hands and popping it into her mouth. “Meanie,” she muttered.

                “Well I can’t let you win all the time Red, that would be unfair,” he shifted a little closer to her straightened out her bangs a little. “So how long do you have tonight?”

                Ruby finished off her candy and turned on her side to face Roman. “Um…all night? I kinda told Yang that me and Olive might have a sleepover.”

                Roman’s eyebrows knit together in confusion. “Where?”

                “Summershade Park,” she replied simply. “Olive loves camping.”

                “Did I neglect to notice the supplies for this?”

                “My backpack’s sitting right on the other side of the tablecloth, and Olive still has hers.”

                “So I just didn’t notice.”

                Ruby shrugged. “I suppose.”

                “Hm.” Roman pulled Ruby in for a small kiss before breaking away slightly and caressing her cheek. “So you were planning on sleeping in a park all night? You do know that that isn’t particularly safe, right?”

                Ruby snorted. “I’m training to be a Huntress, Roman, I can handle myself.”

                “I still don’t like it.”

                “We’ll be fine.”

                “Do you have your gardening tool with you?”

                “No, but—“

                “And now I like this idea even less,” a frown marred Roman’s features as he spoke again, “Red, you’re damn near hopeless without that thing.”

                “Why should I expect trouble?”

                “Because you’re a relatively attractive girl trying to sleep outside in the middle of inner city Vale? Come on Red, Do you actually think that the park is safe after dark?”

                “You know I never took you for a worrier,” Ruby remarked.

                “And I never took you for an idiot,” Roman retorted, “Actually, that’s a lie, before the whole shared dreams fiasco, I was under the impression that you were a total moron. I was starting to change my mind, don’t go and change it back."

                Ruby’s eyes narrowed at that, her voice came as a low growl through clenched teeth. “I can take care of myself, Roman.”

                “I’m not saying you can’t, Red, I’m saying that humans are capable of quite a few grotesque things that you are not properly prepared for. I’m a criminal, I know how the rookies think. I also know that there are plenty of people that, unlike myself, are not respectful of woman’s right to say no. You’re too vulnerable without your scythe and you know it.”

                Ruby’s lips pursed and she averted her eyes from his. “You can’t guarantee that something will happen…”

                “And you can’t guarantee that nothing will happen.” Roman sighed, his arm wrapping over her waist protectively. He really didn’t like this idea of hers; she was far too trusting at the wrong moments and could get into so much trouble. And based on what he’d seen of Olive, he doubted she was much better. By this point, Roman’s rationality had shut off once more. Instead, his bad habit of being far too protective was rearing its ugly head. He cared about Ruby too much to knowingly leave her in harm’s way at this point, and while he would likely kick himself in the morning for this, he didn’t give it a second thought. “Look, normally I wouldn’t make this request but in light of the circumstances, I’d honestly prefer it if you stayed with me tonight.”

                Red’s eyes shot back to him quizzically. “You’re saying I should stay at one of your apartments tonight?”

                “Olive too, of course,” he breathed, “Better than leaving you to your own devices with a tent.”

                “Isn’t taking your girlfriend home with you after the second date moving a little too fast?”

                “Red, you’ve been in all ten of my apartments’ master bedrooms already—granted, you were dreaming—but that doesn’t change the fact that you’d be in familiar territory.”

                “I’m not sure I should trust you on this, honestly.”

                “It’d be better than trusting yourself to whatever strangers are in Summershade Park,” Roman stated flatly, “Of course you could always go back to Beacon, right?”

                Ruby shook her head. “Olive wouldn’t have a place to sleep.”

                “If she has any success with Neo, she might,” he noted with a smirk, causing Red to snicker a little.

                “That’s a very unlikely ‘maybe’,” she murmured before sighing. “Fine. I know it’s a bad idea but if you insist…I guess we’ll stay with you…how are we gonna get there?”

                “Well…” Roman and pushed Ruby gently onto her back, “you’re going to have to borrow one of Junior’s overcoats, and maybe a hat, for starters.”

                “Why…?”

                “Because you’re marked in the underground.”

                “Meaning…?”

                “You’re wanted in the criminal world, kind of like how the government wants me, only they don’t want you dead.”

                Ruby grimaced at that. “Fantastic. What about Olive?”

                “She shouldn’t be recognizable, so she’ll be fine.”

                “Okay. When should we leave?”

                “Whenever you’re ready, Red,” Roman murmured as he leaned down and pecked her on the lips. As he broke away, she smiled mischievously and pulled him back in for a deeper kiss, her fingers tangling into his hair in an attempt to pull him closer.

                “Can we stay a little longer?” she whispered after they parted.

                “I wouldn’t mind,” he breathed as he leaned back in to catch her mouth in a slow tantalizing dance. Dear lord, he’d missed this. Even if the four days since their last waking meeting had been brief, the dreams in between had left him thirsty, his desire to hold Ruby left unquenched by the vagueness of her nightly apparition. He couldn’t complain too much, spending time with her was still enjoyable without the amplified sense of feeling granted by reality, but when he was here…his body stung with a sort of static, wherever their skin pressed together he felt himself lit ablaze.

                One month, he reminded himself. This had only lasted one month. He and Red were finding themselves in the honeymoon stage of a relationship doomed to failure. Roman found himself trying not to pay attention to that. Maybe a month ago he would’ve scolded himself for this behavior, but now he was reveling in it. The taste of Ruby’s lips against his was something to be appreciated even if it was brief. Being here with her was a gift even if it was destined to fall apart. Even if he wasn’t sure if he could live with the consequences, Roman had forgotten the costs far too long ago to remember now.

                As the last kiss broke, he pressed his hands against her cheeks and his eyes wandered across her flushed face. Her silver eyes stared back at him, half lidded and dazed from the previous excitement, and he laughed lightly as he straightened out her bangs. Ruby’s fingers followed suit, running through his bangs until one hand caught the fringe covering his right eye. Roman stiffened as her hand pressed through to trace the features he hid from everyone; he felt something in his chest tighten as her palm rested itself against the edge of his cheek and she leaned up to kiss the skin beneath his right eye. He swallowed hard—sometimes reality set in at the worst moments.

                “Ruby,” he whispered before clearing his throat in an attempt to make his voice less hoarse. She pulled away slowly, her confusion made apparent in her expression. Roman lifted himself away from her and straightened out his bangs. “We should probably get going.”

                “Oh…okay,” Ruby sat up and began cleaning up their game while he silently kicked himself for killing the mood. At the same time though, he somewhat glad that he had stopped drowning in the deeper affection he suddenly found himself feeling for Red. It was almost as if…no. Roman didn’t feel for her like that. No matter how much he enjoyed her company, no matter how beautiful she’d become in his eyes, he didn’t feel that strongly for her.

                He was not falling in love.

oooOOOooo

                Ruby gazed down at the busy streets of Vale from the windowsill of Roman’s bedroom as she absentmindedly brushed her fingers against her right shoulder. She noted that he hadn’t been exaggerating when he said the city never slept. The traffic of the streets had not slowed once since the moment they’d arrived. Ruby smiled slightly, wondering to herself how Roman slept with all this noise echoing in from below. The smile faded just as fast as it had occurred, her forehead pressed onto the glass as her thoughts set on Roman. She was sure she’d upset him…but she didn’t know why. He’d gone uncharacteristically quiet since they’d left the Club, and even with Olive’s enthusiastic reenactment of her conversation with Neo to distract her, Ruby couldn’t help but notice it.

                What had it been? She’d rerun the events of the evening over and over, looking for it in a vain attempt to figure out what she’d done. Sadly it wasn’t working, she simply kept dancing around the problem without finding the point. It was honestly kind of irritating.

                “Isn’t that my spot?”

                Ruby turned her gaze towards the door to find Roman leaning on the archway, his expression somewhat nondescript as he watched her from afar. “I’m only borrowing it,” she spoke softly.

                “Well you aren’t allowed to borrow it,” Roman replied as he lifted off the doorframe, his voice even and void of any underlying anger. “That’s my spot.”

                “What, need to pout?” Ruby murmured, a tiny smile playing at her lips. “I’m sure there’s room for two.”

                Roman frowned at her bitter statement and closed the remaining distance between them, the silence between them thick enough to cut with a knife. He leaned down to deliver a small kiss to her lips, barely lingering a few seconds before pulling out slightly to look at her. “Please Red, I need a moment to think. And as selfish as it may sound to you, I’d prefer to be alone.”

                Ruby swallowed hard and gave him a small nod before quietly shuffling over to his bed and sitting down. The atmosphere between them was much too heavy, and she forced herself to breathe as her hands balled into fists around her pajama pants. Don’t cry, she reminded herself, her eyes closing and her relaxed breathing feigned to near perfection. This didn’t hurt. She had nothing to be upset about. Roman wasn’t angry, he just needed to think. _About what?_ Ruby bit back her tears momentarily as the urge to break struck hard at the walls of her composure. Do _not_ cry, she reminded herself. There was nothing to cry about. This is not the time, nor the place.

                Ruby resisted the urge to flop down on the bed and throw the covers over her body, instead opting to pull back the blankets slowly and replace them over herself just as calmly. Though she knew Roman wasn’t paying attention to her, she hoped to god he wouldn’t notice her at this moment. She hoped he wouldn’t walk over, that he wouldn’t notice the pained expression on her face. But at the same time, she wished he would; the comfort would’ve been nice. No, that was selfish, he had other things to worry about, if she had upset him then she just needed to give him time to tell her why. Ruby heard Roman let out a light chuckle and she bit her lip to keep in the short sob that threatened to leave her lips. Do not cry. This was not the time or place. She had to wait her turn.

                “And now you took my bed, huh, Red? Well I suppose since Olive took the guest room, I’ll be on the couch tonight.”

                Ruby heard him begin to approach the bed and she forced her expression to go passive, her pain hidden as she felt his fingers graze her upper arm. Do not tremble, she reminded herself. Hide it. He doesn’t need to see you cry about this.

                “Goodnight Ruby.”

                Ruby couldn’t reply. Any answer would’ve come out as a cracked whisper and would easily give her away. He didn’t seem to notice her silence and shuffled to the entrance, quickly flicking off the lights and closing the door behind him. Ruby waited to hear his footsteps fade before letting her sadness seep back onto her face, a short shallow sob escaped her lips as a whisper. She let her tears fall, covering her eyes as her breath left her mouth in small shuddering gasps. She stopped herself from allowing any noise to permeate her sobs, any moan or whine would probably catch someone’s attention and her tears weren’t their problem. She wasn’t used to feeling like this. This surge of emotional torment had unraveled her more than anything ever had before, all things considered, even fighting Grimm had never pushed her over this edge. So what was it?

                Why was she so terrified?


	14. The First Night and Day

The Events of the Weekend (the First Night and Day)

                After a half hour of tossing and turning, Roman was finally ready to admit it. He could not seem to get to sleep. Now he had dealt with insomnia before in his life, but since the dreams with Red started, it had not occurred once. Whenever he went to sleep at night, he was comatose in minutes, drifting off into a peaceful sleep where he was soon joined by Red on the dream plane. But tonight, for whatever reason, was different. Tonight the dreams refused to come, and without them Roman was wide awake, even though he wanted to be very unconscious.

                He sighed, one hand reaching up to cover his eyes. The tension between him and Ruby had lasted a little too long. There hadn’t been an argument to speak of…the problem was simply Roman’s sudden idiotic refusal to get closer to her. She hadn’t asked what was wrong—he wasn’t sure that that was a good thing. Something told him that it most certainly wasn’t. Roman groaned and sat up, leaning his head into his hands as he tried to talk himself out of his next course of action. He shouldn’t be thinking about her this much. In four days’ time this relationship was going to see its gruesome demise. But right now…he wanted to talk to Ruby. He needed a break from this dense atmosphere.

                Roman lifted up from the couch and ambled slowly through the rooms of his abode until he reached the master bedroom. The less time he took to think about this decision, the better. He drew in a deep breath as he reached the door and pushed it open. “Hey, Red are you still—“

                Roman went rigid in the doorway as his eyes fixated on Ruby, who was sobbing quietly to herself in the safety and solitude of his bed. Roman stared at her in disbelief, his expression setting into one of near horror—he was almost completely certain that he was to blame for these tears. Roman’s brain began running a thousand miles a minute as he tore through it looking for a way to fix this. He royally failed at consoling Ruby the last time she was this distraught and now that it was his fault, he was nearly guaranteed to fail more. Momentarily the idea that he should just leave and let her cry surfaced, but he discarded the thought as quickly as it had occurred. No matter how much he needed to let her go, he didn’t want to see her like this right now.

                Even though this affair threatened to ruin both of them, he couldn’t find it in himself to walk away from her at this moment. Roman swallowed hard and slowly entered the room; a small creak from one of the floorboards alerted Red to his presence, and she sat up slightly as she tried to back away from him. He paused at the action, halting for a few long seconds before inching towards the bed once more. Ruby hung her head as he lowered himself to the mattress, and he frowned as he pressed hand against her cheek. Roman nearly swore under his breath as he noticed how just how many tears had stained her skin in his absence. His frown deepened and he gently pulled Ruby’s face up, his eyes looking intently towards hers as they darted about frantically.

                Her gaze met his for a split second before it fell once more, her face marred by a deep frown. “S-Sorry…”

                “Hell, Red,” Roman brought his free hand to Ruby’s other cheek and held her head up, feeling her jolt a little at the sound of his voice. “Listen to me,” he murmured as she hiccupped lightly, “Don’t apologize, please. You did nothing wrong.”

                “But—“ Ruby faltered as he pressed a finger against her lips, her breathing stuttered slightly. “I upset you…”

                “Ruby, you did not upset me, okay? I upset me, I am to blame for my bad mood. You have nothing to apologize for.” Roman caught a few tears as they fell from her eyes and brushed them away. “Look, it’s not your fault, please don’t blame yourself for it. Oh, and if I ever manage to make you feel like this again, just…slap me or something. Odds are that I probably deserve it.”

                Ruby hiccupped again, her eyes wandering Roman’s features before she brought up a limp hand and hesitantly patted him on the cheek in some feigned attempt to hit him. His mouth broke into a small grin as he let out a chuckle. “That’s better.”

                Ruby laughed a little, her breath still escaping her lips in labored gulps as she managed to smile through her tears. She nodded weakly before her eyes fell again, her hand falling from his cheek and trailing a little down his chest as her somber expression returned. He frowned in turn and leaned towards her, delivering tiny kisses to her eyelashes in succession. She drew in a short breath at the action, and he pulled away hesitantly as he felt her tremble. She smiled again before leaning up to kiss him, her lips lingering a moment before breaking away. “Thank you, Roman.”

                “Anytime, Red,” he whispered as her hand trailed up to his cheek once more.

                “Roman.”

                “Yes?”

                “Please…stay. In here,” Ruby lowered her head onto his chest, her breath still hiccupping from her fading sobs.

                “You know I shouldn’t,” he noted as he laid back down onto the mattress and pulled her down with him.

                “I-I don’t care. Please.”

                “Fine. On one condition.”

                “What?”

                “No kisses when we first wake up in the morning.”

                Ruby sniffled and looked up at him in confusion. “Why not?”

                “Because I happen to be male.”

                “What does that have to do with anything?”

                “Haven’t—you know what, I really don’t feel like explaining this. You’ll find out why in the morning.”

                “Oh-Okay…” Ruby flopped her head back onto Roman’s chest and he brought a hand up to pet her hair.

                “Just do me one favor, Red,” he murmured, his eyes closing as he felt her breathing begin to even out.

                “Hm?”

                “Don’t ever let me catch you crying on your own ever again. You don’t have to hide these sort of things from me.”

                “But—“

                “No buts, Red. If you need to cry, that’s fine. Just don’t hide it from me. Ever.”

                There was a pause of silence before Ruby spoke again, her voice soft and cracked. “Okay. I promise I won’t.”

oooOOOooo

                Ruby woke up the next morning with a smile on her face, as the dream stuffed into her sleeping hours had been quite uplifting. She stirred a little and peeled her cheek away from Roman’s chest, blushing a little at the sight of him. Momentarily she forgot his request from the night before and leaned up to kiss him on the lips. She lingered only a moment before pulling away and looking down, her brow knit together in confusion. What in the world was…poking her? Upon realization, Ruby’s face went several shades darker and she began making small frantic squeaking noises.

                “Didn’t I say no kisses?” Roman mumbled blearily as he lifted a hand up to his head, his eyes still closed as he addressed the girl leaning on him.

                “I-I-I-Is that why?” Ruby squeaked as she anxiously gestured towards the bulge in Roman’s pajama pants.

                “I see you’ve discovered the miraculous thing we adults like to refer to as morning wood,” he replied with a drowsy smirk.

                “I thought you could control yourself!”

                “Oh I can control myself. Him on the other hand…well he kinda does what he wants.”

                Ruby let out soft wail and scrambled away from Roman, and he laughed at her flustered response.

                “Dear lord Red, you are by far the most innocent girl that I’ve ever had the privilege of sharing a bed with.” He paused a moment before speaking again. “Though to be fair most of the others preferred certain _recreations_ over cuddling.”

                “What does that…oh my god I did not need to know that Roman!”

                The man let out another loud laugh just as Ruby grabbed a pillow and smacked him with it. “You know I didn’t really think you’d catch my meaning, considering how innocent you are.”

                “You’re disgusting!” she wailed as she tried to push him off the bed with the pillow.

                “Oy, oy…at least wait until I’m awake to start attacking me, jeez…”

                “You are awake!”

                “Okay, wait til I’m less drows—whoa, Red, I do not like hanging off the bed this early in the morning!” Roman’s eyes shot open as he fumbled to get back on the mattress before Ruby gave him one last push and he rolled rather gracelessly onto the floor. A loud thump came from next to the bed, and she peered over the edge just as a groan rose from his landing spot. “That was highly unpleasant, please don’t ever do that again,” he mumbled.

                “Your fault for being a pervert.”

                “Having natural body functions does not make me a pervert, Red.”

                “Mentioning sex does!”

                “Hmm…okay, I’ll give you that one.” Roman sighed and rose to his feet. “But do you think next time you could react in a way that doesn’t leave me with bruises at…eight o’clock in the morning? I’d appreciate it.”

                Ruby blushed a little brighter as her mouth formed into a pout. “Fine.”

                “Wonderful,” Roman yawned and did a quick stretch before his arms flopped down to his sides and he shuffled over to the dresser. “Well I’m going to take a shower and get dressed so you can just…play a game or something until the bathroom is free again.” Roman paused before turning to the connected bathroom and looked Ruby over carefully. “Did you bring any toiletries with you?”

                Ruby mulled over the thought a moment. She and Olive hadn’t initially planned on being anywhere near a shower, so she’d neglected to pack anything more than her toothbrush and a comb. “I didn’t bring any shower products or a towel,” she admitted.

                “Ah. Well, you can borrow one towel from me and a little bit of shampoo. And I think Neo left some shower gel in the guest bathroom last time she stayed the night. You can use that too.”

                “Okay,” Ruby nodded before picking up Roman’s scroll and opening up the side scrolling game that she’d become ever so fond of. She smirked and looked back at Roman. “I’ll go get it after I beat your high score.”

                Roman scowled a little at that before opening the bathroom door. “Remember not to use your own name, you aren’t the only person that snatches that thing from me.”

                “I thought you told your friends.”

                “I told my friends, not my business partners. Just don’t use your name. Don’t use ‘Red’ either. Okay?”

                Ruby nodded before Roman slipped into the bathroom; she paused a moment to process what he had just told her. For one, Junior didn’t work with or for him, and he considered Neo a friend more than an employee. But then…who were his business partners? Obviously he was working with the White Fang, but from what Blake had told her, he treated them more like underlings than he did comrades, and she doubted that he’d let any of them near his scroll. And then when Sun was in town…he’d said that in the speech they’d watched Roman give, he’d made a passing comment about “his employer”. So…he hadn’t told his higher ups? Ruby considered this a moment more before shaking off the thought. Roman was literally a room over in the shower and here she was, thinking about his alliances. But was it really all that bad to look into it?

                She hesitated only a moment before exiting out of game and searching Roman’s scroll for files regarding his jobs. The folder itself wasn’t too hard to find, but it happened to be password protected. Ruby looked over to the bathroom door cautiously, her mouth setting into a hard line as she turned back and started thinking of possible passcodes.

_Junior_

_Neopolitan_

_Ruby Rose_

All denied. It probably wouldn’t have been a name anyhow. Ruby thought back to the last time she and Roman had discussed their interests and listed the number of quirks she’d discovered in their time together. A greeting, maybe? It might work. She sighed and typed in the one phrase that came to mind.

                _Hello Red_

After a pause, the access code cleared and a loading screen appeared; Ruby let out a shuddered breath as she got cold feet once again. What in the world was she doing? After all the time she’d spent with Roman, it should’ve been painfully clear that he didn’t trust anyone easily. He kept his work and his personal life separate and his only exception was Neo, who was not only loyal to him but also mute and thus unlikely to have a slip up. Whether he trusted her enough not to look or had simply forgotten the folder was there, by looking at this…she would be betraying him. Now she could come up with more than a few ways to justify her actions—after all, whatever he had planned was probably going to hurt more than a few people. Blake and Sun had told them about the speech he gave about toppling the world order, and having that as an end goal made it likely that the results of these jobs would be cataclysmic. If she got the jump on Roman and his partners…it could save people’s lives.

                But what was the cost?

                Ruby swallowed hard as she felt her heart twist at her next revelation. If she gave this information away, Roman might be caught by the authorities again. General Ironwood had petitioned the council to order his death and had succeeded. If Roman was caught…he was to be publicly executed. Ruby’s breath caught in her throat at the thought of watching Roman die. She locked the scroll and tossed it to the mattress. She felt so wrong right now. Just a month ago if someone had told her to choose the world or Roman Torchwick…she would’ve chosen the world. All he had been back then was an awful monstrosity that deserved it. She couldn’t see him like that now.

                In the month they’d spent together, she’d watched him transform from an evil beast into a man. Suddenly instead of being an annoying heartless bastard, he was funny and smart, sarcastic and honest, patient and…gentle. Ruby let out another shaky breath as she remembered how he’d comforted her the night before, how carefully he’d held her, how he’d kissed away her tears…how he’d told her that she didn’t need to hide it from him. In the dream that followed, he’d even apologized for not noticing sooner. Ruby got up from the bed and strode from the room as the thought of Roman’s death sentence surfaced once more. She knew she would want to cry at his execution; she knew that once she was alone, she would lose herself to those tears…and he wouldn’t be there to hold her.

                Ruby stormed through the rooms of Roman’s apartment to the balcony and threw open the door, stepping out onto the terrace and taking in a deep breath of the morning air as the wind bit at her skin. Just breathe, she thought. Everything will be okay. He wasn’t leaving. She didn’t betray him. The world wasn’t ending. Just breathe. Ruby sank to the floor and closed her eyes as she tried to even out her breaths and tame the wave panic that had swept over her. She knew by now that she’d been a fool. She couldn’t get out of this now and she didn’t want to. It had only been a month and she’d lost herself.

                She’d fallen in love with Roman.


	15. The First Day and the Second Night

The Events of the Weekend (The First Day and Second Night)

                Roman was notorious for taking long showers. His excessive morning routine confined him to the washroom for near an hour, so he was far from surprised when Ruby was no longer on his bed and his scroll carelessly thrown on the mattress. He chuckled lightly, one hand reaching back to rub the back of his neck as he approached the bed. Despite slight irritation at the thought that he’d have to reclaim the highest score on his game, he was curious to see how far Red had gotten. Roman picked up his scroll and unlocked it; his smirk faded in all but a split-second and he swore under his breath. He’d been careless, forgetting that Ruby was against his choice of work. Careless about the password that no one else (save for maybe Junior or Neo) would’ve guessed. Careless in thinking it’d be alright to leave her unattended in his apartment.

                Roman was about to get out the Melodic Cudgel and hunt her down. No one blind-sided him and got away with it. He almost discarded all the feelings of affection he had for her right then and there. Almost, except before he could get very far he caught a glimpse of something out of place in his peripheral vision. Ruby’s backpack was still here. Roman’s brow knit together at the bag as his panic subsided—Red wouldn’t have left here without that, especially since her cloak was still draped over the top of it. Ruby was still here. He frowned at the recognition and exited his bedroom, his eyes scanning his apartment for signs of her. His apartment seemed void of any life with nothing but a note on the front door to show for it. He swore under his breath again and stormed up the entrance, ripping the piece of paper off angrily only to realize that the note wasn’t from Ruby. It was from Olive. Roman raised his eyebrows as he began scanning the page.

_Good morning my friends!_

_Thank you for letting me crash at your place last night, I honestly appreciate it (your guest bed is super comfy, by the way). Anywho, I have a date (with Neo, SCORE!!!) today so I’ll be out. Probably all day. And I might not come back tonight. That is, is things go really **really** well (If ya know what I’m sayin’ –wink-). So have fun you two! Behave yourselves, I don’t want to interrupt anything that might occur on the couch in my absence!_

_See ya later!_

_Olive_

_p.s.—Roman I thought you might wanna know that Ruby’s out on the balcony and she looks kinda upset. I just thought I’d let you know that if that’s not fixed before I get back I’m going to have to use my anti-upset-friend powers to hurt you. Have a nice day!_

                Roman perked an eyebrow at the page before sighing and placing the note on the small table by the door. If Ruby’s other friends were as unusual as Olive, he wasn’t sure he wanted to meet them. Oddness aside, at least she’d been kind enough to point him in the right direction. Roman grumbled a little and shuffled through the living area towards the balcony. He swung the door open in a fluid motion, turning just slightly and noticing Ruby curled up on the outcrop. His brow furrowed a little—a quick scan of her features revealed that she was far from cheerful, but he was currently a little too irritated to care.

                “You know, I may be wrong,” he began as he stepped out onto the balcony, immediately noting how Ruby flinched at the sound of his voice, “but generally when you decide to go through someone’s things for information you’re supposed to clean up after yourself.”

                Ruby closed her eyes, her head craned up towards the sky, “You’re angry,” she spoke up, her voice somewhat broken, almost as if she had just been crying.

                “Admittedly I’m a little put off. Mostly with myself for being stupid enough to leave you with the opportunity, but partially with you for picking the worst time to forget your moral standards.” Roman glanced behind himself before leaning himself on the balcony. “So out of curiosity, why are you still here? Did you want to save me the trouble of coming to look for you?”

                Ruby drew in a deep breath and looked at Roman, her expression solemn and little somber. “I didn’t read anything.”

                “You didn’t? Well then, if you didn’t read anything, would you like to explain to me why the file just so happens to be open on my scroll? That’d be _lovely_.”

                “Because I was going to.”

                “And you didn’t because…?”

                “Roman…”

                “I feel like I have the right to know why you supposedly changed your mind.”

                Ruby let out another long sigh; her eyes closing once more as she looked up again. “I—I can’t explain it…it’s complic—“

                “I would hope,” Roman interjected with a slightly venomous undertone, “That you know better than to use that excuse on me, Red.”

                Ruby winced again, hugging her knees a little tighter as her gaze went back to him. “You don’t want me to tell you why.”

                “Actually, I’m pretty sure that I wouldn’t ask unless I wanted to know. So let’s skip to the part where you tell me what possessed you to open the folder and then sit out here and pretend you didn’t read anything.”

                “You know I suck at lying Roman. I promise I didn’t read anything.”

                “Your _word_ is notexactlya valid reason to trust you at this moment, so I would suggest you come up with a better excuse for me not grabbing my cane and shooting you right here, right now.” Roman watched as Red sat there trying to collect herself, silently fuming as he contemplated the idea of not giving her the chance to speak. Roman crossed his arms, his eyes continuing to drill into Ruby as she struggled to find her words. “I’m waiting.”

                She let out a shuddered sigh, swinging her head down towards the floor as she relaxed her legs a little. Her arms slumped in front of her, and to Roman she almost looked reminiscent of a broken doll. He softened a bit as the image set in—it seemed his affection had not completely subsided to his rage and instead he found himself sympathizing just slightly to her current melancholy.

                “If…if I had…read those files…” she began softly her head still hanging between her shoulders, “and had given up the information…you might’ve been captured, right?”

                Roman frowned and tilted his head. “That would be a possibility. I’m failing to see how this is your excuse.”

                Ruby drew in another short breath her body seemed to stiffen at his last sentence. “If you were captured…you’d be executed, right?”

                “Well that would be the government’s plan,” Roman said bluntly, causing Ruby to cringe. His frown deepened at the action. “Is that really what stopped you?”

                “I can’t—“ Ruby shook her head and hid her face with her hands, her body trembling sporadically with each breath. “I can’t think about it...please…”

                Roman felt his heart wrench as his anger subsided completely; she’d been right, he didn’t want to know about this. Ruby hadn’t lied about not reading the files and if this was what stopped her…then things had definitely taken a turn for the worse. If she’d stopped to protect him…it meant she was breaking her own rules. And what he was witnessing was the result. He was watching her begin to fall apart. Roman swallowed hard and brushed away the thought before approaching her slowly, kneeling down in front of her shuddering form.

                “Hey,” Roman brought a hand up to Ruby’s cheek, only to have her refuse the comfort. “Red.” He waited a moment as Ruby slowly lifted her eyes to greet his. “I’m not going to get captured, okay? And even if I do, I’m gonna make sure I don’t end up in front of any firing squad.”

                “But—“

                “I promise, okay? I’m not going to let someone as boneheaded as Ironwood be the death of me.” Roman pressed his forehead up against Ruby’s, pausing a moment as she took another short gasp of air. “You know what? I’m free all day today, so why don’t we stay in? Just you, me, some bad take-out, and every game and movie I own. Nothing else. Just us.”

                Ruby smiled lightly and let out a small chuckle, her hands traveling to his cheeks while a few small tears escaped from her eyes. “That sounds nice.”

oooOOOooo

                Roman had given up. That’s it, he’d thrown in the towel fifteen minutes into their fighting game and was now refusing to watch Ruby pummel his now immobile avatar to dust.

                “I’m not sure whether to be amused or disappointed with you for rage-quitting this early,” Ruby noted with a giggle as she promptly beat away at his character’s health bar.

                “Well forgive me for finding it pointless to continue when your skills at this are almost unearthly.”

                “They’re not actually…Yang beats me all the time. You just…kinda suck at this.”

                “Gee, thanks Red. I really did need that compliment, it was very uplifting.”

                Ruby glanced over at Roman and snorted a bit as she watched him dig into one of their take out containers and try to avoid looking at the screen. She completed the fight quickly and crawled over to where he was sitting, grabbing some chopsticks on the way over. “Save some rice for me,” she whined as she reached for the box.

                “I don’t have to save anything for you, I’m the one that paid for it.”

                “Not fair!” Ruby began struggling against Roman to get a bit of rice from the container, only to end up childishly wrestling him over the food.

                “If I spill any of this because of you, you have to pay for my new couch,” he stated flatly as the container he was holding over his head tipped ever so slightly.

                “You wouldn’t have to worry about spilling any if you’d just let me have some rice!”

                “There is plenty of other take out.”

                “Well I happen to want rice right now!” Ruby insisted as she tried to climb up his other arm and grab the container. She almost got it from him. Almost. But it seemed that Roman had the brilliant idea to tickle the outstretched side of her torso, causing her to flinch back at the contact and laugh. She tried again with the same results, going between climbing and doubling over in laughter until finally she gave in and plopped down on the couch, her head falling into Roman’s lap as hugged her knees and arms over her stomach to protect it.

                “Meanie…” she whined, and Roman chuckled as he rested one arm on her back.

                “I suppose I take the victory this time,” he remarked nonchalantly as he resumed eating.

                “Can’t I have a little?”

                “Hmm…let me think…no.”

                “Please?” Ruby looked up at Roman pleadingly and he let out a heavy sigh.

                “Why do you do that?”

                “Do what?”

                “Why do you have to make that kicked puppy face? It’s like you’ve turned making people feel guilty into a science.”

                “I just want some rice…”

                Roman groaned and brought the rice container down so that Ruby could reach it. “Fine, take it you little thief.”

                “Like you really have a right to accuse anyone of stealing,” she remarked as she sat up and began eating.

                “I will make as many accusations as I want, Red.”

                “Right.” Ruby dug further into the rice container as Roman pulled her onto his lap by the waist and nuzzled his face into her neck.

                “You’re going to eat all of that now that I’ve surrendered it to you, aren’t you?”

                “Maybe.”

                “Hn.” Roman pressed a few kisses into Ruby’s neck as he wrapped his arms around her. “That’s not very nice of you.”

                “Neither is tickling me til I surrender.”

                “Well when it stops working, I’ll stop doing it,” he chuckled and placed another kiss on her neck before carefully prying the not yet empty container out of her hands and leaning over to place it on the coffee table.

                “I wasn’t done you know,” she noted as he laid her back on the couch and climbed on top of her.

                “That’s fairly unimportant,” Roman smirked and brushed his lips against Ruby’s, moving away just slightly to kiss her cheek before trailing his lips down to her neck. “And I don’t like it when you ignore me, Red.”

                “I wasn’t ignoring you.”

                “You were going to.”

                “You don’t know that.”

                “I believe I do.”

                “You don’t.”

                “I do.”

                “Don’t.”

                “Do.”

                “No, you don’t,” Ruby finally insisted as Roman lifted his head away from her neck and pushed his forehead up against hers.

                “Fine,” he admitted, “I don’t know, however you’re being far too adorable at the moment and I don’t want to be forced to share you with a take-out dish.”

                “Meanie.”

                “You wound me,” Roman smirked and pressed a slow kiss onto Ruby’s lips, and she returned whilst wrapping her arms over his shoulders and pulling him closer. As the first kiss broke they paused to gasp for air before diving back into each other’s lips, each kiss laced with a nip or pull or a stifled moan from Ruby as she fell deeper into the affection. It wasn’t supposed to be like this—she knew that all too well—Roman was supposed to be one of her worst enemies, the face, the root of all evil. He was supposed to be everything she despised and scorned—and he wasn’t. What he was instead...was surprisingly pleasant.

                As Roman pulled Ruby up onto his lap again she wondered when Roman had become a person that she could trust with…herself. Maybe they both kept secrets from each other, and maybe when they were around each other, they weren’t the most honest of souls…but they were themselves. No expectations, no playing pretend—this burning affection was real.

                And she was drowning in it.

oooOOOooo

                He was in trouble. Roman knew that at this point. They both were—Ruby was in danger of breaking, and he needed to find a way out before he started to crumble as well. He needed to, and he couldn’t bring himself to. The situation of it all became more and more complex with every passing night. How was he supposed to give her up when he was destined to meet her again in his dreams? How was he supposed to shut her out of his heart when he still cared? When she was inches away even if they were miles apart? It was the questions he couldn’t answer that plagued him the most; the impossibility of it all threatened to drive him mad—if it hadn’t already.

                Roman let out a long sigh, his eyes closing slowly as he fought with himself. He had to try, at least _try_ —to end this. If they continued they’d both be hurt. Normally he had no trouble convincing himself to see reason, however he was finding that having Ruby nuzzle her head into the crook his neck was far too distracting.

                He let out a hoarse whisper, barely audible enough to break the silence of the room as they lay together on his bed. “Ruby.”

                She lifted her head slightly look at him, her eyebrows raised a bit from her perked curiosity. “Yeah?”

                He let out another sigh. “I’m not sure…I don’t think we’ll be able to meet again for a while.”

                Ruby stared at him, her visage impassive as she tilted her head slightly. “…Okay. How long?”

                “I don’t know. Possibly—no, probably not ever again.”

                Ruby squinted, a small frown marred her features as she sat up and turned away from him. “Does it—does it have anything to do with your employer?”

                Roman frowned a bit before sitting up and leaning his arm on his knee. He paused a moment, hesitating to answer since he knew she wouldn’t appreciate the response. “It does.”

                “…Why?”

                “Why what, Red?”

                “Why do you have to continue this? What do you gain from it?”

                “Always ask the complicated questions, don’t you Red?” Roman sighed and hung his head between his shoulders. “My employer, despite first impressions, is not exactly the most…even tempered of individuals. I’m afraid that getting cold feet is very ill advised…unless I want to be brutally murdered.”

                “So if you stopped doing your job…”

                “If I don’t hold up my end of the bargain I’ll lose my life, among various…other things.” Roman fiddled with his nails a moment before his hand went limp and his eyes rose to meet Red’s. “I’m not exactly in the most… _maneuverable_ of positions at the moment.”

                Ruby averted her gaze, her head hanging between her shoulders for a moment before she spoke again. “You…you don’t have a choice.”

                “That…just about sums it up, yes.”

                She let out a shuddered sigh; she hesitated a moment more and turned back to him. She replaced her head into the crook of his neck, and Roman swallowed hard as he resisted the urge to wrap his arms around her and hold her to his chest. They sat in silence for a while, the tension in the air thick and foreboding as Ruby tried to even out her breathing enough to speak. After a few minutes and the added comfort of Roman’s hand on the back of her head, she finally managed words. “Do I have to give you up?”

                Roman froze at the question—it hurt. It hurt far more than it should have. “It would probably best if you did.” Roman tried to ignore how cracked and broken his voice sounded, how tight his chest felt and how difficult the lump in his throat was making it to swallow. He could get through this. He’d lost great relationships before. He could manage again.

                “I don’t want to.”

                “Ruby…”

                “I don’t,” she insisted, her hand flying up to grasp his shoulder, “I don’t care if it’s selfish.”

                “Ruby…this is going to hurt you.”

                “I don’t care.”

                “That isn’t true.”

                Ruby shook her head, her arm wrapping over his shoulder as she tried to pull him closer. “I _don’t_.”

                “I know you too well Red. You always care.”

                “I want you.”

                “Ruby, this could kill you if you aren’t careful.”

                “I want you.”

                “Please try to be reasonable—“

                “I don’t care, I want you.”

                “Give me one good reason why any of this is worth the pain.”

                He waited as silence spread throughout the room once more, a silence so thick it could have been deafening. Ruby sat still momentarily before pulling herself closer to him and lifting her head away from his shoulder. Roman barely stifled the catch in his breath as he felt her lips on his ear, his eyelids falling over his eyes as he struggled to keep himself composed. He hadn’t prepared for any argument she had to that question. He hadn’t prepared for any sort of argument at all. He was almost begging some cosmic entity—please, _please_ have her say something he could fight against. Sadly, he couldn’t.

                “Because I love you.”

                Roman’s eyes flew open, his breath catching instantaneously and his chest tightening in an impossibly painful manner. Love. She would let him break her. For love. Roman sat there a minute, his whole body seemingly paralyzed by the very concept behind what Red had just admitted. He turned to look at her, his eyes still widened from the shock as she brought a hand up to caress his cheek.

                “Please don’t make me try to hide that.”

                Roman swallowed past the lump in his throat. He had tried to reason with himself—with her—but it seemed that once more his rationality had shut off and he was thinking with his heart once more. He wrapped his arms around her firmly and lowered her to the bed, his face burying itself into the crook of her neck as they fell back. “You…have the worst timing,” Roman stated quietly, winning himself a broken chuckle from Ruby.

                “So do you.”

                “What a pair we make,” he replied, his voice dry and somewhat sarcastic. He sat up slightly and brought his face to meet hers, his expression somber as he brought his hands up to her jawline. He paused a moment before pressing a light kiss onto her lips, pulling back just enough to speak. “You know this is going to destroy both of us.”

                Ruby smiled a little and drew in a deep breath of air as tears began to leak from her already watery eyes.

                “I still love you.”


	16. The Last Day

The Events of the Weekend (The Last Day)

                Ruby hadn’t expected the weekend to end on such a depressing note. She wasn’t really sure what she _had_ expected…but it hadn’t been this. It hadn’t been this dense atmosphere, this silent dread, knowing that something…huge was about to shatter the very fabric of their tiny little reality—and neither of them were ready for it. Ruby let out a small sigh as she entered Roman’s kitchen, fully clothed with her backpack over her shoulder in preparation for her upcoming departure. Roman glanced up from the coffee he was pouring for a moment before turning back to his mug.

                “Back to Beacon, I suppose?” he murmured without looking back to her.

                “Yeah…I have classes again on Monday…and I wouldn’t want my team to worry…”

                “Huh. Well then…would you like some breakfast? I have some cereal in the pantry if you want it.”

                “I’m not really hungry,” Ruby mumbled, her eyes falling to the floor. There was a heavy pause, one that nearly threatened to crush the both of them until she spoke again. “I…I’ve been trying to think about stories to tell my teammates if they ask about my weekend…”

                “Oh?”

                “…I can’t think of anything that doesn’t sound like an enormous lie…”

                Roman sighed and turned around, leaning back on the counter and looking up at her. “You could always tell the truth,” he offered with a shrug.

                “That would be a bad idea…”

                “You never know.”

                “Weiss and Blake want you dead, and I don’t know how Yang feels about you right now but I’m willing to believe that if she knew about this she’d want your head too.”

                “Well then. In that case, I’d suggest taking a shower as soon as you get home. I happen to know for a fact that most faunus have extremely good noses and you probably smell like a mixture of male hygiene products and cigars at the moment. In other words, like me.”

                Ruby stared at Roman as he took a gulp of coffee, swallowing hard as he looked back at her and motioned for her to come closer. She complied, but her body felt rigid and cold, as if her joints had frozen, making it impossible to move without feeling uncomfortable. She shuffled up to him shakily, her breath catching as Roman placed a hand on her cheek.

                “You’ll be okay,” he whispered, his palm caressing her cheek as she closed her eyes and let out a shuddered sigh.

                “You know that’s a lie.”

                “It sounds like the sort of thing I should be saying to you. I’m not sure if you were aware, but I’m a bit new to the whole ‘empathy’ thing. I’m not really adept with comforting phrases, to say the least.”

                Her lips turned up ever so lightly at the corners as she opened her eyes once more. “Thanks for trying, Roman.”

                He frowned and leaned in to deliver a tiny kiss to Ruby, which she returned with a soft sort of longing that set her ablaze through the numbing pain. They parted only just—Roman brought his other hand up to her cheek as her hands flew to his jawline. Ruby felt her breath shudder when he pressed his forehead against hers and swallowed back the urge to cry.

                “Please come back tonight,” she whispered, winning a small chuckle.

                “You know I’ll be there.”

                After a deafening moment of silence, Roman pulled her into his arms crushing her body as close to his as he could manage, with only the heaviness of their breathing as company. Ruby didn’t want to lose this. She knew it was wrong, but that didn’t matter anymore. She couldn’t lose this, it would hurt too much. At the least though, she would have to play pretend a little longer, until she could find a way to explain all that had happened without having to choose one life over another. Ruby buried her head into the nape of Roman’s neck, a hoarse whisper escaping her lips in fragments. “I really do love you.”

                After a moment, Roman opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by the procession of a slow knock on the door, and his initial intentions faded to a small string of muttered curses as he released Ruby from his arms and pulled her away from the kitchen.

                “Of all the days…” he muttered bitterly as they entered his room and he strode towards the closet, swung it open and pushed Ruby inside.

                “Roman what are you—“ she halted mid-shout as Roman placed a finger gently onto her lips and she caught a glimpse of the concern written on his expression.

                “It seems my employer decided to pay me a visit one day earlier than expected. So you need to stay in here.”

                “But—“

                “No buts, you’re marked in the underground, remember? If my employer finds out you’re here, she’ll kill you, and possibly me as well.”

                “I thought—“

                “You _aren’t_ marked for death, but my employer can be a bit extreme. Now please, Red. No matter what you hear beyond this door, keep as quiet as you can until I let you out. Do not open it, please.”

                Ruby searched Roman’s eyes a moment before stepping back into the closet. Roman frowned and delivered a small peck to her lips before closing the door, leaving her alone in the small, darkened space. She slowed her breathing as much as she could and closed her eyes; her back pressed against the coats and suits while Roman’s foot falls traveled out towards the front door, followed shortly by the distant creak of its hinges as he let in and greeted his guest.

oooOOOooo

                She wasn’t supposed to be here. Roman had agreed to meet with her tomorrow, not today. Nonetheless he swallowed back his anger and paranoia before opening his front door to reveal none other than Cinder Fall. The woman smiled, her arms crossed as she tilted her head to look up at him with an effortlessly arrogant expression.

                “Hello Cinder,” he sighed, his eyes averting from her gaze, “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

                “I told you I would pay you a visit today.”

                “And I asked you to wait until tomorrow. I’m busy today.”

                “Oh really? You don’t look very busy at the moment,” Cinder tilted her head slightly to look past Roman. "Are you going to let me in?”

                He sighed and moved out of the doorway, bowing only slightly to the smug woman as he gestured inside. “Go ahead, Cinder, not like I was enjoying my _day off_.”

                “Oh don’t be a baby Roman,” she replied, “Since when does crime take a break?”

                Cinder smirked back at him before turning back and traveling down the hallway, her heels clicking as Roman mocked her reply silently behind her back. She turned around and he reverted to being impassive; her eyes narrowed in suspicion before she turned again and glided into his bedroom.

                “My my…what a disaster,” Cinder mused as she surveyed the room, “have you had guests?”

                “I may be wrong, but I don’t think that’s any of your business.”

                “Well if your guest is going to interfere with your work ethic then this is definitely my business.”

                “I’m sure I haven’t the foggiest idea what you’re talking about.”

                “I’m referring to how you’ve been slacking on the job lately,” Cinder replied lightning fast, her eyes already glowing with an unspoken threat. “I gave you more than enough time to prepare for all of your missions and I’ve yet to see evidence that you’re really prepared for any of them. Need I remind you what’s on the line for you if you don’t do as I say?”

                “Y’kno—“

                “Allow me to jog your memory. You disobey me, first I’ll take Neo, then Junior, and then I’ll take your life, but not before humiliating you as much as possible. Maybe I’ll start…” Cinder glided up to Roman and brought a hand up to the bangs covering his right eye, and he had to suppress the urge to flinch away when she pushed away the hair without his permission, “By showing everyone the little disability that you try so hard to hide.”

                Roman resisted the urge to growl and closed his eyes, letting out a long, silent breath before speaking. “I’m well aware of the consequences for disobeying you, Cinder.”

                “Are you really? I’m not so sure you are. Is your little friend still here? Maybe I can make an example of them.”

                “I’ve had no guests besides you,” Roman stated flatly, “And you’ve already made your point. I would be more than happy to show you the planning for my jobs tomorrow, but as it is still my day off, I would appreciate it if you would vacate _my_ apartment.”

                “Your apartment? I was under the impression that this apartment was owned by some foreign busybody by the name of Sabbia Agate.”

                “It’s an alias, sweetheart, all the good criminals are getting one these days. Now please leave.”

                “Oh Roman, you really need to loosen up. I’m only trying to make sure you do your job,” Cinder smiled and replaced her hand on Roman’s right cheek as he scowled. “You know I’ll reward you if you impress me.”

                Roman swallowed hard and let out a harsh breath before opening his eyes and glaring down at her. “The only thing I _want_ from you is to be _rid_ of you. Forgive me it that seems a little harsh but working under you doesn’t mean I have to like you. I will show you the plans tomorrow, _now get out of my house_.”

                Cinder’s smile vanished, and for a moment she glared at Roman, her eyes glowing with a silent rage. “Very well. Tomorrow then. I expect to see you in the warehouse by dawn.”

                “Always wonderful to have you over Cinder,” Roman smiled and graced her with a tiny wave as she turned for the door, his smile vanishing as soon as she was out of earshot. “Don’t let the door hit you on the way out,” he muttered under his breath. He followed her with his eyes until she was out the front door before turning to his bedroom window and waiting for her to appear in the busy street below. When she walked into view, he sighed and shuffled over to the closet to open the door and let out Ruby.

                “Okay she’s gone now, you can—“

                “Roman, who was that?”

                He paused mid-sentence and made eye contact with her, his brow knit together in confusion as he studied her visage. “That was my employer…”

                “Her name, what was it?”

                Roman’s brow furrowed a moment in confusion. “It’s…Cinder…oh god,” his eyes widened as he finally recognized the look on Ruby’s face. “You know who she is.”

                The girl swallowed hard and closed her eyes, breathing in deeply before speaking again. “I’m pretty sure…she was at Beacon for the Vytal Festival…what was she doing there Roman? What’s going to happen to my school?”

                “I don’t know the details regarding that,” Roman said softly, “She only tells me what she wants me to do, nothing more than that.”

                “Did you know she’d been there?”

                “…Yes, that doesn’t mean I know why. And you know I can’t tell you anything else.”

                “Roman, please.”

                “Don’t push it, Red,” Roman cut in curtly, “You heard what she said. My hands are tied.”

                Ruby’s eyes wandered his frame frantically, her expression speaking volumes about how terrified she was. “Is she planning on attacking Beacon?”

                He sighed, moving away from her somewhat before stepping forward and placing his hands on her jawline. “I don’t know for sure, but she might, I wouldn’t put it past her.” Roman placed a small kiss onto Ruby’s lips in an attempt to reassure her a little, parting only slightly at the end. “Now you need to go, Red. Your team might start to wonder what’s keeping you.”

                She let out a heavy breath before nodding, and he let his hands fall away from her as she made her way for the door. He followed a bit behind her footsteps, tilting his head quizzically when she turned back at the door.

“My place tonight?” she inquired with a barely audible squeak.

Roman smirked and leaned on the wall as he delivered an equally quiet reply.

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

oooOOOooo

                Roman was starting to wish that he paid better attention to his rationality, more than usual, because in this moment he could see just how far he’d fallen from the wagon and it was not pleasing to the eye. He hadn’t meant for it to get this far. He hadn’t meant to get to a point where he couldn’t stop thinking about her. Where he felt physical pain at the thought of losing her. He hadn’t considered how hard it would be to think about her corpse, and how _impossible_ it would be to pull the trigger.

                He hadn’t considered it, until he’d set up the dummies once more at an abandoned section of one of Cinder’s warehouses and had spent ages trying—just _trying_ —to pull the trigger while he imagined Ruby. But he couldn’t. He held his finger over the lever over and over again, repeated the routine, aim and shoot, aim and shoot, but one way or another the rounds never landed on the dummy, not on this fake Ruby, the very thought of blasting the life out of her when all he wanted was to hold her had turned this effort of his into a fool’s errand. His throat felt swollen, his chest contracted as if it was caving in on itself and the blood pumping into his brain pounded in his ears while his eyes began to water. The thought of killing Red was not supposed to hurt this much. In fact it wasn’t supposed to hurt at all.

                Thinking about Ruby in any context should have made him irritated, irked, sick to the stomach with disgust. Instead he thought of cuddling on the floor, holding her close while they whispered sweet nothings to each other, tiny ridiculous play fights, and his increasingly bad habit of imagining her with less clothes on. His every waking and unconscious thought regarding the girl had an unprecedented amount of affection that had not been there before; its lasting effect…had begun to disrupt his very way of life, just as it had hers.

                Roman’s arm fell limp by his side and he swore under his breath as he tried to convince himself that this was necessary. That it might come down to this. That he wasn’t this weak. He could cut her out again if he needed to. He’d lived without her before. Roman lifted his cane again, his fingers gripping the pole hard enough to draw blood and his arm shuddering slightly. _Imagine Red, now shoot_. But imagining Ruby meant imagining a world where they didn’t have to hide their relationship; imagining her meant thinking about everything he wanted to do with her, everything he wanted to say but couldn’t find the resolve to.

_Imagine Red, now shoot._

_“Because I love you.”_

                Roman let out a broken sigh as the images of Red as her normally happy, ditsy self was replaced with the opposite—images of her crying or scared, bruised and broken. He felt himself choke as he thought of what it would be like to see her cold, lifeless body, the bloody crumpled mess of her once lively form sitting at the feet of none other than— _Cinder_. It was _her_ fault. She was the reason Roman couldn’t have Ruby. She was the reason he couldn’t escape, the reason for him being on _death row_. Roman growled as he began to imagine Cinder’s face on the dummy, and within moments he’d shot it head on; firing round after round into the inferno as he imagined Cinder, and Emerald, Mercury, Adam—it was their fault.

                If they weren’t tying him down, he’d be free of this city, this _life_ —he could run away to a place where he could be with Ruby and not be destined to hurt her. If Cinder was _gone_ , all his worries would vanish with her. Roman felt the trigger click one last time, but by now, he’d used up the round, his breath heavy as he glared murder at the fiery blaze in front of him. It took a few moments longer than it should have for Roman to realize what he’d just done—far too long to realize that he’d seriously just considered betraying Cinder for Ruby’s sake. Had he gone completely bonkers already? He staggered backwards until the wall brought him to a halt, and he tried desperately to tell himself that he hadn’t meant to do that. Sadly he knew better.

                Where had he gone wrong? When he began to find her cute? When he gave in? When he let her stop controlling herself? What had brought him to this point?

                Roman hung his head between his shoulders while he racked his brain for the answer. When had these feelings grown so strong? Why hadn’t he even noticed? He’d never meant for it to get this far. And worse yet, Ruby was just as marked as he was—and that was his fault.

                _“Put Red on the threat list.”_

He’d been so bloody stupid. He’d told himself so many times that he wouldn’t fall for her, and now it was too late.

                He’d fallen in love with Ruby Rose.


	17. The Thirty Fifth Dream

The Thirty Fifth Time

                Junior didn’t come over as often as he used to. Between running his club, handling repairs and any amount of work he could find as an information broker, there was always something to keep him occupied. Roman didn’t mind often, after all, he wasn’t without his own tasks and had rarely needed nor had the time to chat. He had been fine…but he wasn’t any longer. Junior...was not smarter than Roman. Well, in a sense of literacy or practical know-how, he wasn’t more intelligent, but when it came to giving advice, Junior had always been the closest thing Roman had to a parent, and that’s what he needed right now.

                He didn’t know what to do anymore. He’d lost the will to break away from Ruby and now he was going to pay for it. Chances were that Junior couldn’t help him with this, but that hadn’t stopped him from calling Junior on his scroll half a dozen times and leaving a compilation of frantic texts and voice messages when the calls didn’t go through. Thankfully it took Junior less than half an hour to show up at his current apartment.

                Roman opened the door solemnly, nodding a short greeting at Junior before moving back into his apartment to grab them two beers and a bottle opener.

                “Wow. I did not expect it to be that bad.”

                “What do you mean?” Roman inquired flatly as he dug through his fridge, his eyes flashing briefly over the counter to where Junior was situating himself on one bar stool.

                “Well I wasn’t exactly expecting confetti or streamers when you called me six times, but for you to be this quiet means that you’re really, really upset,” Junior leaned on the counter and looked Roman over. “So would I be right in assuming that this has something to do with Ruby?”

                The redhead sighed and stood from the fridge with two beers in hand. “It does.”

                Junior’s eyes followed Roman as he shuffled over to the counter, his mouth formed into a hard line as his host quietly retrieved the bottle opener in one of his drawers. “I heard you spent the weekend with her. Did something go wrong?”

                “No. No, the weekend was great.”

                “So what’s the matter?”

                Roman sighed again and slid a beer towards Junior before leaning on the counter side opposite him. “You were against this visit, weren’t you?”

                “Very against it, yes. What’s your point?”

                Roman paused to take a sip of his beer and twirled the bottle before speaking up again, his voice harsh and cracked. “She’s in love with me.”

                Junior blinked, an expression of surprise formed on his face. “She told you this?”

                “Yeah.”

                “Well,” Junior took a gulp of his beer and slammed the bottle down on the counter, “I’m supposing that’s not all?”

                “It’s not. I…I lost my way out.”

                “Oh dear god…”

                “And thanks to me, Cinder has Red listed as a threat to our operations,” Roman added bitterly.

                Junior sighed and shook his head. “This is one hell of a mess you’ve gotten yourself into…”

                “Sure is,” Roman said with a wry smile, taking a small sip of beer as the overbearing silence returned once more. He felt Junior’s eyes on him, knowing that his friend could read him far easier than he was normally comfortable with. He guessed the man had put two and two together as he spoke again.

                “Oh my god.”

                “What?”

                “You love her back, don’t you?”

                Roman didn’t answer, his mouth pressed into a hard line as he averted his eyes from his friend, allowing him to confirm his own statement.

                “You do, don’t you? That’s what this is all about, isn’t it?” Junior sighed and hid his eyes behind one hand. “Why couldn’t you have chosen a better time to have this sort of crisis?”

                “Because life hates me,” Roman stated bluntly. “Not that there’s much that would make this any better. Even without Cinder or the fact that the government wants me dead there’s still the difference in our occupations to consider.”

                “You just had to fall in love with a Huntress in training, didn’t you?”

                “I suppose I live to make things complicated,” Roman replied with a smirk.

                “Well I guess you have been a pain in my ass since day one…” Junior mused, winning himself a playful shove from his companion. He took another sip of beer before he continued. “Well, you have a couple options, my friend. You could sit here and wait for this secret dream thing to get one or both of you killed, you could try breaking it off…or you could look for another way out.”

                “What other way out?”

                Junior took another gulp of beer before setting down his bottle and flicking Roman in the forehead. “Weren’t you the little rascal that could think his way out of any situation at one point? Use that big brain of yours. Ask your girlfriend for help. You never know, she might have a few ideas. I’ll see what I can find for you on my end too. Don’t worry, I’ll keep it on the low down.”

                Roman rubbed the spot on his head and sighed. “Thanks. I’ll…see what I can do on my end.”

oooOOOooo

                The night had never been this quiet before. Ruby could’ve sworn that time and all life in its wake had come to a halt, and only she and Roman were left at the mercy of this stillness. This dream was heavier than usual; neither of them had made any attempt at words upon Ruby’s arrival, Roman had simply taken her into his arms and she’d gladly buried her face in his chest. They hadn’t kissed, but instead their hands fell into tiny gestures of affection, Ruby’s finger traced an outline across Roman’s chest before her palm rose to press against his jawline, and she could feel his fingers running gently through her hair. At last Roman’s voice shattered the silence with the topic they’d both been trying to avoid.

                “You need to let me go, Ruby.”

                The hoarse whisper sounded forced—Ruby knew he didn’t want to say this. She also knew deep down that he was right, this relationship couldn’t work under these circumstances. But…she didn’t want to give up on it, and she knew he didn’t want to either. She shook her head, denying the very issue with an absolutely irrational level of stubborn willpower. “I don’t want to.”

                “Ruby, please. You know this is going to kill you.”

                “I’m okay.”

                “Don’t lie to me.”

                “I’m not lying.”

                “Yes you are.”

                ”I’m _not._ ”

                “Ruby.” Roman pressed his hands against her cheeks and pulled her face away from his chest. “I know you, okay? And this is _not_ you. You are a ditsy, careless, and _happy_ ball of energy that never runs out of bad ideas and has the brightest smile on this side of Vale. _That_ is who you are. And no matter how much you love me, staying here with this secret on your back and everything that comes with it is hurting you. You need to let me go.”

                Ruby wandered Roman’s visage frantically, her chest tightened and she swallowed hard as she realized just how serious he was. “How am I supposed to let you go? Tomorrow night we’ll meet again, right?”

                “Ruby…”

                “And the next, and the next after that…I mean, it’s been a month, if these dreams were going to stop, they would’ve by now, right?”

                “That is not an excuse for letting me hurt you,” Roman growled.

                “What am I supposed to do instead?!” Ruby refuted, “I am head over heels in love with you and destined to see you in my dreams every night, probably for the rest of my life! What are my other options, Roman?! Tell someone so that they can convince me that I’m insane? Ignore you whenever we’re in the same room?!”

                Roman paused a moment before letting out another hoarse whisper. “Ignoring me might actually work.”

                Ruby’s expression contorted with pain and she pulled away from him, her heart pounding as she felt herself beginning to panic. “How could you say that?”

                “It’s probably what’s best for you.”

                “How do you know that you’re not what’s best for me?”

                “Christ Red, is that even a valid question? I’m the reason that there’s even a problem! I’m a bad person, Ruby, I don’t even begin to deserve someone like you.”

                “You are not a bad person,” she insisted as she placed her hands on his cheeks, “You may do some bad things, but that doesn’t make you a bad person.”

                “Just like doing good things doesn’t make me a good person,” Roman replied as his hands came up to her jawline. “Don’t fool yourself Red. I may be human, but that doesn’t make me a good one. Please. If you won’t do this for yourself, then do it for me. Try, at least _try_ to pull away from me.”

                Ruby’s began to water, and she shook head vigorously as her breath escaped her lips in shallow gasps. “I can’t, I can’t…please Roman, I’ll tell someone, promise, I’ll try to find a way to get you out of this, anything, I’ll do absolutely anything, just…don’t…don’t make me give you up…”

                She let out a soft sob as her tears began to fall, and Roman responded by pulling her in for a harsh kiss, one that felt as pained and terrified as they were. After a moment it became slower, more controlled as if the meeting of their lips had somehow managed to calm the approaching storm. Ruby felt herself beginning to tremble as he pulled her closer, and when they parted she dove back in for another soft kiss, retreating only slightly as he held her forehead to his.

                “I’m not asking you to give me up, at least not forever, but right now…you’re too attached to me Red. And I need you to pull away. Just for a little while.”

                “How long?”

                “I don’t know.”

                “That isn’t an answer Roman.”

                “It’s the only answer I have,” he replied in a heartbeat before pulling away to fix Ruby’s hair. “Please, just do this for me.”

                Ruby breath shuddered again and she closed her eyes, hiccupping slightly as she managed a feeble nod. “Okay,” she whispered, her voice broken by the tears beginning to form.

                “One more thing, Ruby,” Roman paused to see that he had her attention, and upon receiving it, he pressed a small kiss onto her lips. “You need to tell someone. Someone other than Olive.”

                She nodded again as she bit her lip in an attempt not to dive in for another kiss. “I will.”

                “Promise me you’ll do that tomorrow.”

                “But—“

                “No buts, you’ve been delaying since this started and you can’t keep it a secret any longer. Promise me, Red.”

                Ruby hesitated before nodding, and her breath caught as he responded by delivering a kiss to her forehead. Roman pulled her into his arms again; she buried her face into his chest once more and resisted the urge to cry. It wasn’t right that she felt safe here. It wasn’t right that she wanted to stay. The world felt like it was burning to ashes around them and yet, if it were up to only her, she’d never let him go, nor would she distance herself. But if he needed her to pull away, she could do it. She was stronger than this, she could brave the storm. Ruby let out a small whine as Roman pressed another kiss onto her crown and graced her with one more unsure whisper.

                _“It’ll sort itself out, Red.”_

oooOOOooo

                Ruby was starting to regret this choice. If had only been up to her, she would’ve avoided telling a single living soul just a little while longer, but she had to admit, this was probably the best option. If anyone could help her and Roman…it would be Professor Ozpin. Of course, that didn’t make Ruby certain of her choice. As far as she was concerned…Roman had it easy…he could separate his work and his friends. She didn’t have that luxury; no matter what, she was destined to work with friends and family who were just as opposed to the actions of Roman and his employer as she was. But maybe…maybe Ozpin could help her save Roman. It was all she could hope for, otherwise…they really were doomed.

                As the elevator to Ozpin’s office opened, Ruby swallowed back her fear and stepped in. Her eyes searched the large chambers as she pressed hesitantly forward, noting that Ozpin seemed to be in the middle of a call to Ironwood, whose voice traveled just faintly to her ears and made her cringe subconsciously. That was the voice of the man that wanted Roman dead. Ruby drew in a deep breath and took one final step towards the desk as Ozpin’s call ended, her eyes closing as she attempted to keep herself from panicking.

                Ozpin placed his scroll down and leaned forward, letting a slight pause of silence occupy the space between the end of his call and he beginning of his meeting with her until at last he spoke. “You wanted to see me, Miss Rose?”


	18. The Thirty Sixth Dream

The Thirty Sixth Time

                “How may I help you, Ruby?”

                Ruby swallowed hard and looked hesitantly towards her professor as she fiddled with the hem of her skirt. This had been a purely awful idea. Regardless of whether or not she’d receive less backlash than she would from Yang, telling anyone about this was something she’d avoided for so long…even mentioning it was difficult. And while Ozpin logically had the most resources to help Roman, he also had the most to condemn him.

                Ruby took another step forward, composing herself momentarily before moving to speak. “I…I was wondering if I could have some advice about something.”

                “Of course,” Ozpin took a sip of his coffee and sifted uselessly through a couple of pages before nodding at her to continue.

                “Well…um…I—I have this friend who’s kinda…in a bit…well, a lot of trouble…and they need some help...”

                “What kind of trouble, Ruby? I’d be more than willing to help.”

                “Wha—what if the trouble was really really bad?”

                “I’m afraid that I don’t understand your meaning.”

                “Well…that’s uh…heh, a little hard to explain…”

                “I’m not very capable of helping if I don’t know what the problem is.”

                “It’s just…I’m not—I don’t know…” Ruby trailed off as her eyes darted about then fell to the floor. She felt…remarkably much more guilty about her feelings for Roman when she tried to explain the situation. From an outside viewpoint…it looked so wrong—worse than it did up close.

                Ozpin paused to study Ruby before sighing and leaning onto his desk once more. “Miss Rose, you’ve been behaving rather…odd in the passing weeks, and trust me when I say that it has not gone unnoticed by the staff, or your teammates and friends for that matter. I’ve had several visits expressing concern for your mental state and one somewhat…intriguing discussion with your team regarding an incident when you were…unusually secretive about your whereabouts. Would I at all be correct in assuming that this friend of yours has something to do with that?”

                Ruby swallowed hard and lifted her head to look at Ozpin. “He does,” she answered in a short, cracked whisper, one only just capable of traveling to her professor’s ears. He raised his eyebrows in response, contemplating the statement a moment before speaking again.

                “Do I know this friend at all?”

                “Not personally.”

                “Is he a student here?”

                “No.”

                “Hm. And what is your exact relation to him?”

                “He’s a friend.”

                “Is that the truth, Miss Rose?”

                Ruby bit her lip, her features strained a moment before she broke under the pressure of Ozpin’s gaze. “He’s more than a friend.”

                “You’re seeing this boy?”

                “Yes…”

                “And they’ve found their way into some sort of trouble? Might I inquire who with?”

                “Sadly that question has multiple answers…”

                “Does your team know this person?”

                “Sort of…”

                “Hm.” Ozpin took another sip of his coffee and leaned back in his chair, shrugging slightly as he contemplated the information he’d just received. “Well this is rather concerning. Tell me, Ruby, how exactly did you come to know Roman Torchwick in such a manner?”

                Ruby’s eyes shot up to her professor, her mouth gaping as she made failed attempts to voice her shock. After a few more moments, her words caught up to her and she managed to speak. “H-How did yo—“

                “I’m your headmaster, Ruby, I make it my business to concern myself with the whereabouts of my students within this campus, and while I may not be able to assess your whereabouts in the city, I have noticed how closely you and your teammates have been following Torchwick and the White Fang while in the premises of my school. Would you be so reluctant to tell me his identity if it were anyone else?”

                “Probably not,” Ruby admitted with a light, awkward chuckle.

                “I see. Would you be willing to tell me how this relationship came to be?”

                She hesitated, one hand traveled to hold the opposite arm as she sighed and nodded slowly. “It’s just…a little hard to explain…”

                “Well, why don’t we start with the basics then? When did this all start?”

                “…About a month ago…”

                “Might I ask how it started?”

                “That would be the hardest part to explain…”

                “How so?”

                “Well…it—it sounds crazy. Almost completely unbelievable.”

                “Then I suppose I will have to keep my mind open to all possibilities,” Ozpin leaned his fore arms back on his desk and smiled gently up at her. “Go ahead, Ruby, I promise to listen.”

                Ruby studied her professor cautiously before closing her eyes and letting out a long, drawn out sigh. “About…about a month ago…I started having these really…weird dreams…”

                “Dreams?”

                “Yeah…at first I tried not to think too much about it…I just thought they were nothing…just…nightly hallucinations or something, but…”

                “But…?”

                Ruby hung her head and let out a soft whimper as she continued. “A few weeks ago…he…I found out that he was really there…”

                “What do you mean by that, Ruby?”

                “…I discovered…that I wasn’t the only one having these dreams…that Roman…was every bit as real as I was…”

                “So you mean to tell me that instead of dreaming about Torchwick, you found that you were dreaming…with him?”

                “And…still am…” Ruby added softly, her voice barely raised above a whisper as she made eye contact with Ozpin.

                “These dreams are still occurring?”

                “They are.”

                “Ruby, you do realize that Roman Torchwick is wanted on multiple charges, including murder? And judging from what the authorities and James have told me, he could come off as rather…charming. Has the possibility that he’s manipulating you ever—“

                “If Roman was anything less than sincere, do you think he would’ve asked me to tell someone about us?” Ruby cut in quickly, her heart starting to race as she realized the one thing she’d dreaded hearing the most. She didn’t want anyone telling her that Roman didn’t actually care about her. “He knows that I only have one friend that isn’t going to want to turn him over to the police and he still told me to tell someone else. Does that sound self-serving to you?”

                “Admittedly, no, but—“

                “Professor, I already know that Roman isn’t the most morally sound individual. I mean, just a month ago I was under the impression that he didn’t have a single good bone in his body. But I promise you…he does care about me. He hasn’t tried to control me, he hasn’t tried to change how I feel about his criminal activities and he has not ever forced himself on me in any physical manner. I am not being manipulated into caring about him. I’m not that naïve.”

                Ozpin blinked, hesitating only a moment before closing his eyes and letting out a soft chuckle. “No, I suppose you are not,” he murmured as he rose to his feet and walked around his desk to his student. “But I don’t think I can help a man that is in quite as much trouble with the government as Torchwick is.”

                “I—I’m not asking for a full pardon. It’d be enough…if you could at least find a way to get him off death row.”

                “General Ironwood is rather adamant about seeing Torchwick pay for his crimes with his life. I don’t know if I’d truly be able to persuade him otherwise.”

                Ruby swallowed down her anxiety and let out another soft croak. “What if he gave up some information about his employer?”

                “His employer?”

                “Yeah…he—he’s not acting of his own accord. All his most recent activity has been under orders. If he doesn’t do as he’s told, he’ll be killed.”

                “So what would you have me do, Miss Rose?”

                “If—if I could get him to agree to talk with you, would you try to find a way for him to exchange what he knows for his life and protection?”

                Ozpin closed his eyes, smiling lightly before speaking once more. “I believe I can manage that. Please speak with him as soon as possible. Would I be correct in assuming that you want this discussion kept in confidence?”

                “…Yes…”

                “Very well. But I would request that you at least inform your team, they have a right to know about this.”

                “But—“

                “Ruby, I am willing to trust you because you’ve yet show anything less than devotion towards the people of Remnant and your training, but I will not let you go behind the backs of your teammates. They need to be informed. I can schedule a meeting later this week if that would help.”

                Ruby let out a shaky breath and swung one leg a little. She took a moment to collect her thoughts before speaking again. She hated herself in this moment; more than anything she wished she wasn’t so terrified of telling her friends and her own sister what had been happening. When had it become so hard to tell the truth? When had she become so comfortable with secrets? Ruby swallowed back the urge to cry as she turned to her professor. “It would help.”

                “I’ll see to it then. Might I escort you back out? I have a meeting to attend in the staff lounge.”

                Ruby smiled lightly and gave a short nod before following her headmaster back to the elevator. She was silent all the way back to her dorm, as she was lost in her near panicked thoughts; simply imagining the possible reactions from her teammates left her distraught. Ruby didn’t want to give up Roman, that was for sure, but that didn’t mean that she wanted to give up her friends.

                “So how’d your meeting go?” Yang spoke up as Ruby entered the room, her gaze moving from her homework to her sister as Weiss and Blake looked up from their own work.

                “It was alright…” Ruby replied awkwardly as she made her way towards her dresser and got her pajamas.

                “What did you talk about?”

                “School, mostly.”

                “Anything else?” Blake interjected softly, and Ruby let out a light sigh. Of her three teammates, Ruby was certain that Blake was the closest to finding out about Roman. It seemed that Roman had been spot on about the faunus’s heightened sense of smell, for Blake had been the most suspicious about the true nature of her past weekend.

                “Uhm…Ozpin wants to meet us all on Friday…that’s all I can think of…I’m gonna go take a shower before bed…” Ruby shuffled into the bathroom and locked the door. She tried to forget that her teammates were starting to argue about her, tried to forget that on Friday the yelling would be directed towards her. The world wasn’t falling apart.

                At least not yet.

oooOOOooo

                Roman paced the length of the room, over and over a few times for extra measure as he’d found that his stress level left him utterly incapable of any other relief. His work for Cinder had already begun, and though the attacks would go unnoticed by the authorities for a few more days, Roman knew it was only a matter of time before they caused him problems. And to top that off, he was trying _far too hard_ to avoid succumbing to his affection for Ruby. Of course, that weighed less on his mind at the moment than her particular choice in confidence.

                “Of all the possible people at Beacon that you could’ve informed, why in the world did you choose your headmaster? Did it never occur to you that Ozpin is not only a fully trained huntsman but also best friends with the man that wants my head?”

                “He was also the least likely to give me hell for this,” Ruby murmured.

                “So you’re still going to avoid telling your team?” Roman glanced briefly at the sleeping girls occupying the beds surrounding him. “Even though you should have told them weeks ago? How much longer are you going to keep them in the dark?”

                “Can you blame me for wanting to keep it a secret? They all want you dead!” Ruby frowned deeply and crossed her arms, her head hung between her shoulders before she continued. “Besides…Professor Ozpin already scheduled a meeting to…help me tell them…”

                “A meeting?”

                “I still don’t want to tell them…but Ozpin said he’d only help you if I told my team about the dreams…”

                Roman’s brow furrowed and he paused in front of Ruby. “Help me? Help me what?”

                Ruby looked up at Roman hesitantly, her expression read as one of guilt. “She…Cinder won’t ever let you go, will she?”

                “I’m not a prisoner, Ruby,” Roman growled sharply. He didn’t like the insinuation that he had no free will.

                “But—“

                “And if I did decide to betray her, I am not going to trust my life in the hands of a complete stranger, let alone one that’s the drinking buddy of someone who wants me executed.”

                “Roman, I—“

                “Also I don’t believe that I ever asked you to lend a hand, Red,” he remarked with a hint of venom as he began pacing the length of the room once more.

                “He’s not going to tell anyone Roman.”

                “How can you be so sure?”

                “Because he told me he wouldn’t.”

                “And you trust him to keep to his word?”

                “He’s never given me reason to think otherwise.”

                “Well he’s given me plenty of reasons,” Roman stated bitterly, “Starting with the fact that he’s headmaster at the best school for huntsman and huntresses in training, and ending with the fact that it’s his ‘duty’ as a huntsman to rid the streets of people like me.”

                “His job is to protect the people! That means you count!”

                “Ruby, I’m the sort of person that he protects the people from, I don’t count anymore.”

                “I don’t see it that way and I doubt he does!”

                “I still can’t trust him.”

                Roman paced a few more steps before Ruby caught his arm and brought him to a halt. “I asked him to meet with you in person.”

                “You _what_?”

                “All on your terms, Roman,” she murmured softly, “And only if you decide to. Please Roman, I know you don’t trust him, but at least consider the option.”

                “And what if he doesn’t keep his word? To keep this a secret?”

                “Don’t we have to try something? Anything would be better than nothing at all.”

                Roman sighed and relaxed a little as Ruby’s hand released his arm and traveled upwards to his left cheek, her fingers brushing only barely against his skin. He let out a small breathy sigh—this small form of affection shouldn’t have calmed him down so much. He shouldn’t have felt relieved, but nonetheless he felt the pent up tension leaving his body as soon as Ruby’s fingers grazed his cheek. “I thought we agreed to keep our distance, Red.”

                “If you think that touching your cheek is the pinnacle of what I’d like to do tonight then you’re a lot more innocent than I gave you credit for,” she smirked.

                “I’m not innocent at all…” Roman paused and his expression changed to one of confusion. “Out of curiosity, what would you like doing instead?” He perked an eyebrow as Ruby withdrew her hand quickly and a burning red blush sprouted on her cheeks.

                “N-Nothing.”

                “Huh. Not so sinfully innocent after all, are we?”

                “Shut up!”

                “Honestly Red,” Roman chuckled and pecked the girl on the forehead, “you’re a little too adorable sometimes.” He sighed and pressed his forehead against hers, restraining himself only enough to avoid locking lips with her. “I’ll give the meeting some thought, okay? But I’m not gonna make any promises.”

                “Mkay…” Ruby closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath before letting out another soft whisper. “Roman.”

                “Hm?”

                “I’m scared.”

                “Of…?”

                “I’m afraid of telling them…” Ruby pulled away from him a little and gestured to her teammates. “I—I don’t know how to explain it to them at all.”

                Roman smirked and leaned in to deliver a small kiss to her cheek before speaking again.

_“I know you’ll find a way.”_

oooOOOooo

                Roman had been staring at the broken cigar for at least a minute. There were a number of things that were causing him distress right now, be it his dreams with Ruby, his work with Cinder, or the person currently clanging around in his kitchen, but at the moment this barely used, broken and snuffed out cigar was at the top of the list. Roman finally managed to pry his eyes away from the scene of the crime to look at the culprit as the man in question fished a pan out of one of his cupboards and placed it on his stove.

                “Do you have any idea how expensive that cigar was?” Roman stated slowing, his words sharp as he sent a soft glare towards the green haired man as he fiddled with the stove.

                “I know that it was the fifth one you’d lit today,” he responded absently while he tied back his unruly mane of thick, light green hair and pushed up his glasses. “And I also know it isn’t as expensive as the number of surgeries you’ll have to get when you get cancer in your mouth.”

                “You aren’t my mom.”

                “You’re right. Junior is your mom, and he told me not to let you smoke too much, so I’m cutting you off.”

                “Okay, first of all, Junior is not my mom, second of all, just because you broke one cigar does not mean that I can’t light another.”

                “If you light it, I’ll break it.”

                “I will kick you out of my apartment if you so much as try.”

                “Then you won’t be having lunch.”

                “I can cook on my own, you know.”

                “Not as well as I can.”

                Roman let out a low groan and let his forehead fall onto his hand while the dark skinned man continued making what Roman could only assume was a stir fry. “What are you doing here, Perry?”

                “Junior invited me.”

                “And when exactly did Junior get the right to invite you? He doesn’t live here.”

                “Like your guest bedroom isn’t made to his preference.”

                “I only did that in the first three apartments, okay?”

                “You still did it.”

                “When I was eighteen. That’s a three year difference.”

                “Aw, does baby Roman not like admitting that he was ever homesick?”

                “I will throw something at you.”

                Perry simply laughed in response. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

                “Y’know I nearly forgot how annoying you are.”

                “Well I learned from the best.”

                “Who, Junior?”

                “No, you.”

                “Well I see you combined that with your extensive studies on ‘How to be a prick’ from Adam,” Roman noted casually.

                “Ugh, please, I don’t care if I work for that guy, don’t compare me to him. He’s rude, crazy, and he makes most faunus look bad.”

                “Oh? Did I just hear discontent from a White Fang member?”

                “Shut up, you know I joined before the whole militarization thing.”

                “I simply haven’t seen much protest over the past few jobs.”

                “That’s because I’m not an idiot. I know better than to complain.”

                “You’re complaining to me.”

                “No one else is around, you brought it up and I’ve known you long enough to trust you.”

                “Fair enough,” Roman shrugged just as a knock came at the front door. Roman glanced over his shoulder nonchalantly before turning to the ever curious mouse faunus in front of him. “Would you be so kind as to get that?”

                Perry set down his spatula for a moment and crossed his arms for a second. “Can you not see that I am cooking?”

                Roman groaned as he got up from his bar stool and shuffled towards the door. “Bloody useless animal.”

                “Oy. I will burn your portion if you don’t watch your mouth.”

                “Yeah yeah…” he waved off the comment lazily before opening the door and glancing up at his new guest. “Hello, Junior.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rosewick trash Peeves reporting in.  
> So since I kinda posted every single chapter I've already written at once, I suppose I'll leave off here by saying that you can find me at alice--with-a-bowtie.tumblr.com if you'd like, and I will update as soon as possible.  
> Rosewick trash Peeves out until next chapter.


	19. The Confession

**The Confession**

                “Did you absolutely have to press every button in the elevator?”

                “I told you already, Weiss, it was an accident.”

                “Well it didn’t look very accidental to me.”

                “I didn’t mean to, I swear…” Ruby mumbled as she shuffled after her team back into Professor Ozpin’s office, where five nondescript wooden chairs had been placed around a circular meeting table now occupying the center of the room. Ozpin sat in one such chair, with a solemn expression and a large plate of cookies directly in front of him. If Ruby hadn’t been nervous beyond belief she might have laughed at the gesture—as if cookies could solve the train wreck that this meeting was destined to become.

                “You wanted to see us, Professor?” Blake inquired softly as they all came closer, and their professor responded with a smile.

                “Yes, Miss Belladonna. Please sit,” Ozpin’s gaze followed the faunus girl as she sat beside him, and he pushed the plate of cookies towards her only to receive a small shake of her head in response. “Anyone else?”

                “I’m always up for a cookie!” Yang chirped as she flopped into the seat next to her partner, followed shortly by Weiss as she took the seat beside Yang. Ruby gulped and took the last available seat.

                Yang held a cookie out to her and she shook her head in response. She couldn’t manage to stomach the sweet right now, even if she wanted to. “No thanks.”

                “…Okay then…”

                “So…if you don’t mind my asking, Professor, what did you want to see us about?” Weiss spoke up as she took the smallest cookie she could find in the pile.

                “Well, I called you all here today because I believe Ruby has something she needs to tell you three,” Ozpin stated nonchalantly as he took a sip of his coffee.

                “No offense meant, Professor,” Blake began sharply, “but shouldn’t our leader be able to tell us things outside of an organized meeting?”

                “Under normal circumstances, that would be preferable,” he noted lightly in response, “but there are instances that require a little extra…mediation than others.”

                “And this is that sort of situation? I doubt it’s anything that unexpected,” Weiss made a small gesture with her hand as she spoke, “I mean, it is Ruby. She kinda reads like an open book.”

                “I dunno, Weiss,” Yang replied softly, “She has been a little off lately.”

                “Well, even so, we should be able to sort things out just fine on our own. Right Ruby?”

                Ruby’s eyes peeled themselves from the table slowly, her mouth forming into a hard line as she looked into the eyes of her partner. “I…I asked him to schedule the meeting, actually.”

                “And why did you do that?”

                Ruby’s head snapped towards Blake, whose eyes were narrowed in suspicion and her arms crossed in anger. Ruby’s eyes fell back to the table immediately, her expression contorting to one of extreme guilt as she tried to force out the words to explain what had been happening. She felt awful, sick to the stomach, and…terrified. They would be so angry, and they would have every right to be. Ruby drew in a deep breath and held it in a few seconds before releasing it and letting the first sentence spill from her lips. “You guys remember when I disappeared into Vale last Monday, right?”

                “Ruby, what wrong…?” Yang asked hesitantly, her voice laced with an obvious concern for her sister.

                “I was going…I was going to see someone…”

                “That’s it? You didn’t need to hide that from us!” Weiss exclaimed, “What’s so wrong about paying a visit to a friend?”

                “He’s—he’s not exactly a friend…” Ruby murmured softly in response closing her eyes as she prayed to god that this would be over soon.

                “Ruby…?” Yang spoke up again, this time her voice barely a whisper, as if she herself was just as terrified as her little sister.

                “How could you?”

                Ruby opened her eyes and slowly raised her head to look at Blake. The faunus girl looked calm at a first glance, but if you looked long enough at her impassive expression ad stiff body language you would know that she was, in fact, enraged. Ruby averted her eyes from her teammate a moment, swallowing hard while she attempted to regain her words. “Blake, I—“

                “How could you?!” Blake broke her composure and slammed her hands down on the table as she rose to her feet, her chair falling in a loud commotion to the floor. “How?! After everything he’s done?! After everything he put us through?!”

                “Blake, what’s gotten into you?” Weiss stammered, and Ruby let out a shuddered breath at her partner’s oblivious response.

                “I’m not wrong, am I, Ruby?” Blake asked venomously, her voice devoid of any compassion she’d previously felt for her leader.

                “Miss Belladonna, I would advise you to control your temper,” Ozpin spoke up solemnly, drawing Blake’s cold glare to him.

                “Control my temper?! Do you even realize what she’s been hiding from us?! What she’s…” Blake trailed off as she held eye contact with her professor, backing away in near horror as she came to her next conclusion. “She already told you.”

                “Miss Belladonna—“

                “How could you tell him first?!” Blake shouted as she directed her attention back to Ruby, causing the girl to flinch. “We’re your teammates! You should have told us first!”

                “Told us what?!” Weiss roared as she rose to her feet. “What are you so sure that she’s hiding?!”

                Ruby let out another broken gasp of air; she felt herself beginning to tremble as she worked up the strength to speak again. “She…she thinks that the person I went to see was Ro—was Torchwick.” Ruby paused to look around the table, her eyes trailing from Weiss’s shocked visage, to Ozpin’s solemn gaze, on to Blake’s livid glare, until her gaze fell onto Yang’s expression of sheer terror. She tried to swallow the lump in her throat once more as she held eye contact with her sister.

                “Oh my god…” Yang managed a hoarse whisper, and Ruby felt a lone tear trail down her cheek when she opened her mouth to speak again.

                “And she’s right.”

oooOOOooo

                “So,” Roman began as soon as Junior was settled and Perry had served lunch, “out of curiosity, why have you invited Perry and yourself into my home, Junior?”

                “I realized a few days ago that you had neglected to tell Perry about your little…issue,” Junior remarked while he dug into his lunch.

                “Which one?” Perry chimed in snidely, earning himself a short glare from Roman before he turned his gaze back to Junior.

                “I don’t believe that’s you’re call, Junior.”

                “Maybe, but if you’re going to tell Neo, you should also tell the other twerp that followed you around when you were a kid.”

                “Perry and I work together.”

                “In a manner of speaking,” Perry added nonchalantly.

                “You also work with Neo,” Junior grunted.

                “Neo is mute, loyal to me first and also far more physically capable than Perry,” Roman stated bluntly before turning his vision towards Perry slightly, “No offense meant.”

                “None taken,” Perry replied, “She’s been able to beat my ass into next week since she was twelve.”

                “So you don’t think you can trust Perry?”

                “Trust me with what?”

                Roman held hand out to halt Perry as his gaze hardened on Junior. “You know I keep a strict separation between my private life and my work. Neo is the only exception because she is physically incapable of having a slip of the tongue.”

                “You’ve known Perry since—“

                “I know how far back our history goes Junior,” Roman cut him off sharply, “That does not mean that I am going to make him a liability. Frankly I respect him a bit too much for that.”

                “I would guess that I’m not supposed to ask what you two are talking about?” Perry spoke up after a moment of silence, and Junior broke his eyes away from Roman to address the question.

                “Roman has a new girlfriend,” he stated simply.

                “Junior,” Roman let out a strained warning.

                “Ooooh…so it’s a girl this time?” Perry turned to Roman and smirked. “That’s a shame. I was looking forward to the lack of competition.”

                “Okay, you and I both know that I was very drunk and that it was a one-time thing,” Roman responded lazily.

                “You still liked it.”

                “…That is true.”

                “And that…” Junior cut in, “is a mental image that I never needed.”

                “What mental image?” Perry inquired innocently.

                “I’m afraid I have no idea what you are referring to,” Roman remarked with a grin.

                Junior scowled at the both of them. “Don’t be brats.”

                “Yes mom,” they replied simultaneously.

                Junior let out a loud sigh as his head fell onto one hand. “I’m starting to wonder how I ever survived you two.”

                “With extreme skill,” Perry mused.

                “And an angry horde of small children for protection,” Roman added.

                “Roman, can you please take this seriously?”

                “Take what seriously?”

                “Perry needs to know.”

                “No, he doesn’t,” Roman retorted sharply as all evidence of his previous playful demeanor vanished.

                “What else is there to know?” Perry cut in, “So Roman has a new honey bun, good for him, hope all goes well there. If he doesn’t want to tell me any more about it then I’m fine with that.”

                “So you don’t want to know anything more about it?”

                At this point, Perry turned to Roman. “Who do you want this information kept from?”

                “All of your superiors,” he answered bluntly while he continued to stare down Junior.

                “Right. I definitely don’t want to know.”

                “Glad we’re on the same page, Perry…” Roman sighed and finally began to eat his lunch just as the sound of explosions echoed in from outside. He glanced briefly at the clock and recognized that it was indeed half past noon, and the first wave of attacks had been set to go off. Junior, as the only unaware member of the party, had gone alert in his seat and was about to stand up when Perry put out a hand to stop him.

                “Don’t worry, none of the charges are set near here or The Club.”

                “This is part of Cinder’s plan?”

                “A diversion of sorts,” Roman murmured, “We’re supposed to start on the next phase after the second wave of attacks.”

                “How many are there?”

                “I’d say twenty to thirty scattered around Vale.”

                “Twenty six total,” Perry specified. “Including the two set in Beacon.”

                Roman felt his blood run cold suddenly as his eyes widened in shock. It shouldn’t have surprised him that much, Cinder and her favorite lackeys had spent the past few months undercover at Beacon; they would’ve had plenty of time to conceal something in the school. But now the existence of such a device posed a threat to Ruby, and he couldn’t help but feel concern for her safety. “There are bombs in Beacon?” Roman inquired softly as he struggled to keep his voice neutral and apathetic.

                “Yeah, I overheard Cinder and Adam talking about it,” Perry remarked. “Apparently he wanted to know the locations, but Cinder wouldn’t tell him. Good thing too, because he probably would have warned Blake. I’ve heard that he’s been struggling to get over his instinctive need to protect her, but personally I think he’d warn her because he wants to punish her for defecting with his own two hands.”

                “I need to make a few calls,” Junior stated gravely as he rose to his feet. “The Club isn’t the only thing I’m worried about.”

                Roman followed Junior with his eyes a moment before trying to play off his worry by digging into his meal. As he did he could feel Perry’s gaze boring into the side of his head.

                “So…I know I’m not supposed to ask, but I am curious…this new...flavor, of yours…how is she in bed?”

                “We haven’t slept together yet,” Roman stated curtly.

                “Is she pretty?”

                “Perry, don’t push it.”

                “Okay, got it, I’ll stop asking. I’m just surprised I guess. I can barely remember the last time you had a one night stand, let alone an actual relationship with someone.”

                “I generally prefer avoiding romantic attachments,” Roman noted bluntly.

                “Well I can understand why,” Perry replied, “It’s kinda impossible to calculate all the risks when it comes to things like love.”

                “I’m aware.” The room went quiet, and Roman finished up his meal as the sound of crumbling buildings and mass panic echoed in from the windows. The screams and sirens were grating, unholy—even if he was numb to the despair of the citizens frightened for their lives and loved ones, that didn’t change the fact that Vale was his home, and he was helping Cinder destroy it. This would never be his particular brand of chaos; he couldn’t thrive without a society to feed off of. There was simply no place for him in a world that was burning to ashes. Roman finished off his drink just in time to hear Junior’s muffled yell from the hallway outside.

                “Wait kid, you can’t go in there!”

                He turned to his front door quizzically, his brow furrowed in confusion until a second muffled shout trailed in from behind the door.

                “Ruby!”

                Roman bolted out of his chair just as the door flew open, and he found himself staring straight into the angry silver eyes of a disheveled and out of breath Ruby Rose.

oooOOOooo

                “Have you gone completely insane?!”

                “He’s our enemy!”

                “He tried to kill you!”

                “What could have possibly possessed you to meet him?!“

                Ruby let out a soft whimper as Weiss and Blake simultaneously pelted her with accusatory questions. She wanted to curl into a ball and stay there forever, or at least long enough for the shouting to end. She knew it was wrong, she knew that better than anyone, but it didn’t change anything. She couldn’t change her feelings, and she didn’t want to either. Some nagging part of her reminded her that her attachment to Roman was all but a month old, but her heart was still strung tight to his and she didn’t know how to let go. Ozpin had attempted to calm down her teammates, but to no avail, and now it seemed as if he was simply waiting out the storm like her. A few more moments and the shouting continued, until suddenly a roar rose above them.

                “Would you two shut up for a second?!”

                Ruby’s head shot up to find that Yang had risen from her seat and was practically glaring murder at Blake and Weiss, her eyes glowing red with fury and her yellow mane blazing. Weiss sat immediately, her mouth snapped shut so quickly you would’ve thought that she’d never raised her voice at all. Ruby blinked at her partner’s response time—it seemed that Weiss had seen her sister angry enough times to obey without question. She hadn’t realized just how wary of Yang the girl had become. Blake, in contrast, held eye contact with her partner, her rage calming only slightly in the presence of Yang’s boiling anger.

                “But Yang, she—“ Blake began to protest before Yang cut her off by slamming her fist into the table, causing her partner to flinch.

                “If you don’t give Ruby a chance to explain herself, Blake, I swear on my life that I won’t go easy on you,” Yang growled in warning, and Blake hesitated only a second before fixing her chair and taking a seat, followed shortly by her partner. A heavy silence filled the air; Ruby could feel the weight of it forcing the very breath out of her lungs, until her sister spoke once more in a softer, gentler tone. “How did this happen, Ruby?”

                “It—It sounds really really crazy…”

                “Well, why don’t we start from the beginning, Miss Rose?”

                Ruby glanced over to her professor hesitantly before her eyes fell once more. “About a month ago…I had this weird dream…I—I wouldn’t tell you about it at the time…” Ruby lifted her gaze and her eyes travelled around the room while the confusion grew on her teammates’ faces. She let out a heavy breath and continued. “In my dream, I found myself in an apartment…it was just a place I didn’t recognize and I guess I was a little curious, I mean, how often do you just find yourself in the middle of a dining area that belongs to a stranger…”

                “Get to the point,” Blake cut in curtly, her glare still boring into Ruby.

                “Right. Um…well, thing is, when I went further into the apartment, I found the bedroom…there was someone sleeping…and when I got a closer look…it was Ro—it was…Torchwick…”

                “What does this dream have to do with you deciding to betray us?” Blake said sharply, earning herself a glare from Yang.

                “I know it sounds crazy,” Ruby stammered, “but in that dream, I had an…almost civil conversation with him, with…Torchwick. I don’t really know why, but I wasn’t scared, or angry, well, maybe he irritated me a little, but when I woke up, what I remembered…didn’t feel like a nightmare…”

                “Um, Ruby, I’m sure you’re going somewhere with this, but…I have to agree with Blake,” Weiss spoke up, “I just don’t really see what the point is.”

                Ruby sighed once more before continuing. “The next night…I had another dream…I woke up in our dorm room and…he was there…just relaxing by the window until I woke up…and the night after that…I woke up in another apartment…and it just…continued…over and over again…”

                “What is your point?” Blake growled.

                “My point is that each dream became more lucid than the next,” Ruby snapped, “I started out trying to deny that there was anything good about Roman, but with each passing night he became more and more human, and I found myself appreciating the company…”

                “I am absolutely failing to see how your mental _delusion_ of Torchwick has anything to do with your paying multiple visits to the _real_ one,” Blake spat.

                “It has everything to do with it,” Ruby replied, “because the Roman in my dreams isn’t a delusion—he’s real.”

                “Ruby, that’s impossible,” Weiss cut in with a nervous smile, “They’re only dreams.”

                “I—I know that Weiss, but…I don’t really know how to explain it…when I’m dreaming, the Roman that’s there with me…he’s not a figment of my imagination—he’s actually Roman.”

                “So…Torchwick is having the same dreams?” Yang asked slowly.

                “Yeah…”

                “How can you be so sure?” Blake inquired.

                “He’s proven it, several times now,” Ruby murmured, “First he told me something only the real Roman could know inside one of the dreams…then by pointing me in the direction of a meeting place that he actually showed up to, and then there are times when he brings up things about me that he could only know if I’d told him in one of the dreams, or mentions some memory that happened in a dream…he’s real, I promise.”

                “Am I supposed to trust your word right now?” Blake hissed.

                “I told you to hear her out,” Yang warned her partner.

                “No offense meant, Yang, but we just did,” Weiss pointed out, “And it still sounds insane. I mean, sharing dreams? Torchwick aside, that’s impossible. You can’t just have the exact same dream with somebody. And even if you were, he’s a criminal, not only that but a criminal on death row.”

                “I know that, but—“

                “He is not good for you Ruby,” Weiss interjected, “He’s nothing more than a murderous thief who does whatever he wants and when the authorities capture him, he’ll be executed.”

                “You don’t know him, Weiss,” Ruby growled unconsciously, her brow furrowing as her partner began insulting Roman. It didn’t matter that what she’d said was technically true—there was more to him than those things and he didn’t deserve to be killed.

                “She knows what he’s done,” Blake spoke up, “We all do. He’s beyond forgiveness, why can’t you see that?”

                “I can’t see that because no one is beyond forgiveness,” Ruby murmured, “You were like him once, weren’t you, Blake? If you could change, why can’t he?”

                “I was never like him!” Blake shrieked as she bolted from her chair once more. “You can’t even imagine what my life was like before I came to Beacon! You don’t know the sort of things I had to live with!”

                “And you don’t know what he had to live with!” Ruby shouted back as she rose from her seat. “How do you know that he didn’t have it just as bad as you?!”

                “Because he’s a human!”

                The entire room went still, and all eyes were on Blake as her expression changed from blatant rage to something almost akin to shock or fear. Ruby’s eyes narrowed at the statement; she opened her mouth to speak but before she could get out a word, the floor beneath them trembled. The sound of roaring flames and twisting metal leaked in, and suddenly Yang was up on her feet and sprinting toward the window of Ozpin’s office. Ruby’s eyes traveled to the horizon and suddenly her heart dropped into her stomach. The sky looked like it was on fire, smoke and debris billowed up as bits and pieces of Vale fell to ruin.

                “Are those…explosions…?” Weiss whispered in disbelief.

                “Yeah,” Yang answered softly. “And they aren’t only going off in the city.” Yang turned back, her eyes staring straight into Ruby’s horrified visage. “One just went off in the sparring hall.”

oooOOOooo

_THE HILLS ARE ALIVE—with the sound of –whispers- death and destruction. Heh. Anywho, Rosewick trash Peeves reporting in and thank you for your patience I now gift you with the seventh ring of hell, part one. Can’t stop me now because I’m having a good time, having a good time_ _ᕕ(_ _ᐛ )_ _ᕗ_ _ᕕ_ _(_ _ᐛ_ _)_ _ᕗ…It should be noted that it’s pretty much going to be this bad for a few chapters now, hope you enjoy it :) (dontworryi’llrewardyou). N_ _ext chapter will be up as soon as I can manage, same goes for The Worst Timing and Strange Cravings, along with the collection of drabbles that I mean to make regarding my headcanons for Roman’s childhood. As always you can find me at alice—with-a-bowtie.tumblr.com in between chapter updates, and I believe…that’s all for now. So. Rosewick trash Peeves out until next chapter._


	20. Brutal Honesty

**Brutal Honesty**

                Roman didn’t know how long he and Ruby had been staring at each other. It had likely only been a matter of seconds, but for some reason it felt like hours, even days and nights passed between them as the world fell down. Roman swallowed hard as he felt an immeasurable amount of guilt and despair overcome him—he knew he wasn’t to blame for the bombs set in Beacon, but some part of him was convinced that whatever wounds Ruby had suffered were his responsibility. His rational side knew that there was nothing he could have done to prevent them, but rationality was all but a delusion in Red’s presence. Everything sounded far away, as if that moment in time had frozen the sounds of destruction outside, and Perry’s frantic shouts were miles away and not mere feet away from him.

                “Roman, what is she doing here?! What’s going on?! Roman!!”

                Roman blinked and suddenly Ruby had sped into his abode and grabbed him by the collar, the anger in her eyes blazing like untamed fire. Roman lurched forward as she yanked him down, and he mentally noted that now was probably not the best time to ask if she was hurt. “How could you let this happen?!” she shrieked, “They were just kids!! They were only a few years older than me, and they did nothing wrong!! How could you?!”

                “Oh my god…” Perry murmured, “She’s the girl, isn’t she? This is why Junior told me to come here?! So you could tell me that you’re dating a kid that’s on Cinder’s threat list?! Have you lost your mind?!”

                Suddenly Roman felt himself snap back to reality and his gaze shot towards Perry, who looked to be somewhere between terrified and highly concerned. “Perry, trust me when I say there’s very good explana—“ Roman cut himself off as Ruby tugged forcefully at his collar again, and his eyes travelled back to her. “How can I help you, Red?” he managed after a short cough.

                “Answer me!!” she howled as her grip on his collar tightened, and Roman couldn’t help but to roll his eyes in irritation.

                “If you could be kind enough to release your death grip on my shirt and repeat the question in vaguely civil manner, then I just might oblige that request,” he said softly. She hesitated a moment, her scowl deepening momentarily before she released his collar and took a step back. Roman rubbed his neck a bit and sighed before addressing the man standing in the entrance to his apartment. “Junior do you think you and Perry could wait in the other room?”

                “You sure you don’t want us to leave?”

                “No, I’m afraid we have a discussion to finish…I just need to take care of this first.”

                Junior paused, staring down his friend a moment before giving a curt nod, walking in and leading himself and Perry out of the room. Roman stepped past his two friends as he shuffled over to the front door pushed it shut. He waited a moment, and then turned to look over at the young girl standing in his dining area.

                “Do you have any idea how much trouble you just caused me?” he murmured softly without daring to look her in the eyes.

                “How much trouble I just caused you?” she stated in disbelief.

                “Alright, how much trouble you just caused _us_? Does the plural make you feel better? Because at the moment you just did something that may very well get us both killed.”

                “I could say the same to you!” Ruby snapped, “I told you that I was telling my team about this today! I might have been able to convince them that you aren’t entirely awful if I had known that there was a bomb hidden in one of our classrooms!"

                “I didn’t know about it, okay?” Roman retorted, “If I had, trust me, I would have told you. I only set the charges in the city, and as you can see, there are quite a few of them, so I suppose I lost count.”

                “You lost count? There are people dying down there!”

                “Oh? Well good for them.”

                “How could you even say that? They’re just innocent people!”

                If I don’t know them personally, they aren’t my problem,” Roman stated curtly, “I believe we’ve discussed my policy on empathy.” He watched Ruby carefully as her eyes widened in shock, and he tried desperately not to feel like he’d betrayed her.

                “Then what about my friends?” she asked softly.

                “What about them?”

                “That bomb went off during a class that I was supposed be in and a lot of my friends got hurt. Does that not matter at all to you?”

                Roman kept his eyes trained on Ruby as he tried desperately to find a way to answer her. In truth, he didn't much care for the other students of Beacon, however if it bothered her…he couldn't help but care, even if it was only a little. He swallowed past the lump in his throat as he finally managed an answer. “I suppose not.”

                The silence thickened between them; Ruby hesitated but a second before striding forward until she was a mere half a foot in front of him. Roman had been prepared for the slap she placed on his cheek, even if he hadn't been prepared for the sting. “I tried to defend you to them,” she said in a strained tone, “I tried to tell my team that you weren't as bad as they thought you were!”

                “Well Red, I do hate to state the obvious but if you really love me like you said you did, then you better start accepting that this is part of the package,” Roman snapped. “I don't care about people I don't know, most of the time I don't even care about the people I do know and I'm not going to be upset about a few corpses or a few casualties. You are never going to be able to change that about me.”

                Ruby's hand flew over her mouth and her eyes began to water, and Roman could hear her breath escaping in short shallow gasps. Roman swallowed down the words of comfort that he wanted to offer her and chose to continue. “I told you not to fool yourself into thinking I’m not a bad person, Red.”

                “You…monster…” Ruby rasped. “They were right…I should have never let myself care about you…all you ever do is hurt people!”

                “And all you ever do is pretend that you’re some sort of hero,” Roman retorted. “Wake up already, Red, and say hello to the real world. Good luck finding your happy ending.”

                “I can’t believe I let myself trust you!”

                “Well I could have told you that was a bad idea but that would have ruined the fun.”

                “I…I hate you!”

                Roman stopped a moment, his breath hitched as he felt the pain beginning to swell inside him. It hurt, far, far more than it should have to say these things. It hurt even more to watch Ruby believe them. Roman closed his eyes a moment and tried to reason with himself. If he had decided to go this route than he would see it through, even if he was likely to break in the night that followed. “And I…” he spoke calmly as he opened the front door and pushed Ruby out of his apartment, “should have killed you when I still had it in me to do so.” Roman tried to ignore the way his voice faltered at the end, and began to close the door. “I’m glad we had this chat, Red. Goodbye now.”

                Roman shut the door all the way and let out a small, barely audible sigh; he shuffled into his bedroom and glanced down through his window to the messy street below. His mouth formed into a hard line as he watched a streak of red speed out of the building and down the road. Roman closed his eyes and tried to slow his breathing—no matter how much it would benefit the both of them in the long run if she went back to hating him, he sincerely hoped that Ruby would manage to see through his bluff.

oooOOOooo

                Ruby wasn’t used to feeling this numb. She wasn’t certain what exactly had struck her so harshly to make her emotions waver…but perhaps…perhaps hearing Roman speak like that again had hurt far too much for her to bear it. Ruby shuffled into her dorm room glumly and noticed rather quickly that she and Yang were currently the only occupants. Her brow knit together in confusion at the revelation, but she stayed silent as she unclipped her hood and walked further into the room. Ruby climbed onto her bed before moving to pull off her boots, glancing quickly towards her sister as the blonde continued to ignore her for the sake of a magazine. She frowned; Yang definitely heard her come in, she never got engrossed enough in any tabloid article enough to be unaware of her surroundings. Ruby guessed that her sister really had been angered by her earlier actions.

                “Where is everyone?” she asked softly, her voice a barely audible murmur.

                “Weiss is still at the hospital with Jaune and the others. Pyrrha made it out of surgery in one piece, but she hasn’t woken up yet. Apparently the doctor said that if she’s still under by the end of the week, she’ll be classified as a coma patient and moved to ICU.”

                “…And Blake?”

                “I think she’s in the courtyard, probably trying to forget that she ever knew you.”

                “I screwed up that badly, huh?”

                “You think?”

                “I…suppose an apology would mean nothing at this point, would it?”

                “Depends, do you still have a thing for Torchwick?”

                Ruby stared at Yang’s calm façade for a moment, her frown deepening at the question. “…That’s not fair, Yang.”

                “Not fair,” her sister repeated curtly as she dropped the magazine that she was likely only pretending to read at this point. “Not fair, huh? You know what’s not fair?”

                “Yang…”

                “It’s not fair that Ozpin was the first to know about Torchwick.”

                “It—Olive was…the first to know, actually…”

                “Oh, it was Olive, huh? Out of everyone else, you told her? I’m sorry, that’s really a lot better!”

                Ruby slid off her bed and paced the short distance to the edge of her sister’s bunk bed. “Yang…”

                “No, Ruby!” the blonde shouted as she sat up in her bed. “I’m done with the explanations! I’m done pretending that I was okay with knowing you were hiding this from me!”

                “Please if you would just listen to me—“

                “And what would that do?” Yang interjected shortly before sliding off her bed. “Would it bring back the people that died today? Would it magically fix the sparring hall? Would Pyrrha wake up? Would her left leg grow back? What would it change, Ruby?!”

                “Yang, I—“

                “I can’t even look at you,” Yang murmured softly as her voice started to crack. Ruby’s breath slowly became shallow, and she felt herself start to tremble while she watched her sister take in a deep breath through a clenched jaw. Yang closed her eyes and took another deep breath before speaking again. “I pulled Russel’s corpse out from under the rubble today,” she whispered softly as her eyes fixated on Ruby. “There actually wasn’t much left after the explosion, to be honest, just a few charred bones and some armor, though apparently Professor Oobleck found his lower half on the other side of the sparring hall. Of course it looked a lot more like gelatinous mush with some pants.”

                “I…I—“

                “Cardin was there when we found him, you know. He’d skipped class because he wanted to take a nap or something, so he didn’t get caught in the blast. Dove and Sky only suffered minor injuries, but they were out too when he got there. He watched them get carried out to the emergency room before he saw what was left of Russel, and when he did…he broke down completely. They had to pry him away from his best friend’s bloody remains.”

                “I’m so sorry…” Ruby squeaked.

                Yang managed a wry chuckle as she averted her eyes from her sister. “Yeah…me too. Because it’ll take a lot more than an apology to make us forgive you.”

                Ruby’s expression contorted as Yang stormed out; her legs gave way beneath her and she buried her face in her hands. She’d lost. She’d lost everything. Beacon was in chaos, Vale was in ruins, her friends and family had abandoned her and the man she’d fallen for was probably laughing it up with his boss right now. She’d been a fool to trust Roman, to think he’d really cared even slightly about her. But…at the time he’d always seemed so genuine…

                _“You can’t keep them a secret forever you know.”_

_“Don’t apologize, please. You did nothing wrong.”_

                _“I forgive you.”_

                Ruby shook her head as she tried to free her thoughts from the memories one month of pure lunacy had left her with. They were lies. They had to be lies. Roman hadn’t meant any of it, he hadn’t cared about her. All she had been was a fool.

oooOOOooo

_Rosewick trash Peeves reporting in and wow this is the first time in a long while that I’ve updated this quickly. I guess I was so eager to break all your little hearts that I made it a priority. So, all that’s left now is to write up the next chapter before you all gather together in a lynch mob and come after me. So. Reviews._

_To those of you that wanted a new chapter after the last cliffie: You’re welcome :)_

_One of you wondered how Blake figured out it was Roman so quickly…that thing Roman mentioned about faunus having a better sense of smell? Right. He wasn’t wrong, and Blake has Roman’s scent memorized on her ‘To Murder’ list (not really but she does have a good enough memory to recognize his scent)_

_One of you expected an entirely different reaction from Ruby…glad I surprised you?_

_To the person who interpreted my comment regarding college as me not liking school: I actually do like college, it’s just haaaaard…_

_To the person who made a bunch of guesses about who would side with who at the end of the day…lolnope._

_Also as a note…one of you interpreted the insinuation made by Roman and Perry to “not necessarily mean what is suggested”…um, yeah, about that. Allow me to be explicitly clear. If the assumption you gathered from that was that Roman and Perry have slept together, then you are completely right. In the verse for this story, they have. Roman is bisexual by my headcanons. Okay? Okay._

_Updates…you can find me at alice—with-a-bowtie.tumblr.com, as always, and that’s just about it. Rosewick trash Peeves out until next chapter._


	21. The Night After

**The Night After**

                The silence in the school was unnatural. Roman leaned back onto the far wall in the hallway outside of Ruby’s room, struggling to keep himself from storming into the room and taking Red into his arms before she could manage a protest. He wasn’t used to feeling this way—on several occasions since his arrival he had caught himself starting to shake, and he had wrapped his arms tight around himself in an attempt to control it. Roman let out a sigh for what must have been the millionth time and leaned his head back; it seemed that no matter how many times he convinced himself that this was for the better, it still wasn’t what he wanted. But if he could stay out here—if he could remain out of her sight until the end of the dream—they might be able to let go of each other.

                Sadly it appeared that his plan was about to fall apart at the seams, for just as he’d managed to once again convince himself not to reenter Ruby’s room, the door creaked open and the girl in question stepped out into the hall. Roman felt his chest tighten and he struggled a little to breathe evenly as he observed her entrance. Small bandages were scattered about her arms, and bruises colored her skin in sick little patches climbing all the way up to the light blemish on her right cheek. But the physical damage didn’t compare to her composure, to the tear stains trailing down from her eyes, the way she refused to look directly at him or to the sheer level of melancholy that he could feel radiating off of her.

                Neither spoke at first; it almost seemed as if she wanted to deny his existence there just as much as he wished she hadn’t come out. They sat a moment more in the stillness before Ruby finally let out a cracked whisper that almost felt as broken as she appeared. “Why didn’t you come in?”

                Roman hesitated to answer, opting first to clear his throat in hopes that is would somehow make his voice less hoarse. “I figured you’d prefer to be alone.”

                “You didn’t feel like taking the time to taunt me for my idiocy?”

                “You don’t think I’ve done enough?” he made eye contact with Ruby for a split moment before she averted her eyes again; the silence crept in once more and clung to their bodies like a thick fog. Roman kept his eyes on her as she fidgeted. He looked her over as she crossed her arms over her chest and turned her head toward the end of the hall. “Your friends…” Roman began, “what happened to them?”

                “I thought you didn’t care.”

                “I don’t,” he replied softly, “but you seem to.”

                Ruby turned her eyes back to Roman cautiously, her jaw clenched a moment before she answered.  “Most of the students were able to avoid major injuries, but the student closest to the blast was killed…and…”

                “And…?”

                “Um…Ja-Jaune…was almost crushed under a bit of debris…Pyrrha managed to protect him, but…” Ruby trailed off and looked down—it almost seemed as if she was trying hard to regain her breath. “Pyrrha’s left leg got crushed under the beam that was going to fall on Jaune. By the time the medics got there she’d gone unconscious from all the bleeding…”

                Roman nodded before letting his vision fall to the floor. “Is she alright?”

                “Does it even matter to you?”

                “Does it matter to you?” Roman made eye contact with Ruby again, and her mouth hung open for a moment as she tried to find the word to respond.

                “Why should how I feel about it mean anything to you?” she managed to croak.

                “Do you care?” Roman tilted his head, “Or don’t you?”

                “Of course I care!”

                “Hm. So is she alright or…?”

                “She’s not dead, but I wouldn’t call being unconscious in the hospital alright!” Ruby finally snapped. “Why are you even asking?”

                Roman held his gaze to Ruby’s for a moment before averting his gaze and avoiding her question. “And those injuries of yours…all minor?”

                “What does that even matter?! Why should you care if I get hurt?!”

                “…Are they minor?”

                “Why do you care?!” she shrieked, and Roman looked back at her just in time to watch her turn away from him while she hugged herself tight. He continued watching in silence, a frown marring his features as he heard her gasping for breath like her lungs refused to hold air. He barely resisted the urge to comfort her in that moment, instead he managed to quietly observe her as her breathing evened out and she looked cautiously back at him, her eyes wide while she momentarily struggled to form words. “It was an act, wasn’t it?” she asked weakly. Roman averted his gaze once more and swallowed his words as she continued. “Everything you said earlier…you didn’t really mean it, did you? You…you just said…things you knew would upset me…and I—I believed them…”

                He could hear her body sink to the floor, and he turned back hesitantly; his breath instantly caught in his throat when his eyes fixed on her horrified visage.

                “I—I’m such an idiot…” she squeaked, “I didn’t even hesitate…I…I just stopped trusting you at the first opportunity…”

                “Don’t beat yourself up about it,” Roman mumbled, “It’s not like I’ve given you much of a reason to think better of me.”

                “Why…why did you say all those things if you didn’t mean them…?” Ruby whimpered, a few tears falling from her eyes while she continued to stare up at him.

                He sighed, his eyelids falling over his eyes as he considered withholding the full truth once again. Sadly he could bring himself to. “I…had a particular…friend over that wasn’t supposed to know about you,” Roman breathed.

                “Wh-what?”

                “The faunus that was in the room with me when you stormed in and shouted at me works for the White Fang,” he explained, “You may remember him as one of the grunts that brought you to me back when we were in the caverns. He’s the one I called Perry. Funny thing about the leader of the White Fang…is that he loves knowing all the little details of his members’ personal lives, and since they began working together he’s been rather buddy-buddy with Cinder. Never really took to liking me though…I think he has a particular distaste to anyone he sees as expressing anti-faunus sentiments.”

                “So you had to lie.”

                “I wouldn’t call what I did lying. I only withheld a few details. Most of what I said was true.”

                Ruby’s eyes wandered his form for a moment before she sniffled a bit and rubbed away a few tears. “Which part did you leave out?”

                Roman hesitated; his eyes then opened a few seconds later and gazed somberly at her. “Well for starters…you asked me if I care about your friends. I don’t.”

                She winced. “You told me that already.”

                “However…” he continued, “I do care if what happens to them upsets you. I also told you that I don’t care what happens to people that I don’t know or don’t like…I didn’t lie. I don’t care.”

                “Why…can’t you manage even some level of empathy…?”

                “You mean the way you do? I may be a bit of an extreme case, Red, but honestly? I’m hardly a rare breed. There are plenty of people who only extend their sympathies to select few, and plenty of people who don’t care how many suffer the consequences of their actions. I’d go as far as to say that little miss Ice Queen in there is at least one of the former persons, if not also the latter.”

                “Don’t speak about her like that, you don’t know her,” Ruby snapped.

                “I’d like to think that I have a basic understanding of her, but I could be wrong,” Roman admitted. “My point…is that most people aren’t about to truly care about every casualty that occurred today. Most people aren’t even going to see past the loss of their own circle unless they happen to witness another’s pain. So maybe I do take it a little bit further, but truth be told, in this scenario, you are the odd one.”

                “What do you mean by that?” she murmured.

                “Look at yourself, Red,” Roman spoke softly as he pushed off the wall and walked towards her, “You’ve got tear stains an inch thick, you look like you haven’t slept in days, you can’t bring yourself to smile, and every time you speak…your voice sounds like broken glass.”

                “N-None of that matters…” Ruby mumbled as he crouched down in front of her.

                “It does matter, because _you_ matter,” Roman replied softly, and her eyes met his in an instant, widening somewhat with the sudden shock. He smiled lightly as he lifted a hand up to brush away a few stray tears on her unbruised cheek. “You matter to me, so if seeing others in pain is going to hurt you, then you have no idea just how much I care.” He tilted his head a moment while she closed her eyes and tried to even out her breathing. “One last thing, Ruby. When I…when I said that I should have killed you, I...”

                “You weren’t lying, were you?” she managed to choke out as she feigned a smile.

                “I wasn’t,” he answered. “Chances are that if I had, we would have both been better off.”

                “Funny, I think death would disagree with me…” she managed shakily.

                “But if it’s any consolation…” Roman continued as he moved his free hand to hers and laced their fingers together, “I’m glad…that I didn’t.”

                Ruby nodded once in recognition as she hung her head, and as she paused Roman shifted so that he was sitting next to her. She let out a soft laugh and took a moment to squeeze his hand in her own before speaking. “You were right,” she murmured, “you…you aren’t a good person…you’ve…you’ve done awful things, and you haven’t done anything to make up for it…” Ruby inhaled sharply, her words catching a moment before continuing. “And you’re selfish, distrusting, disrespectful, and way too sarcastic. You tease me too much, you’re childish to a fault and you have no manners…”

                Roman frowned as she gave his hand another hard squeeze and let out a shuddered breath before speaking again. “And I hate...knowing that you won’t care who gets hurt because of you. I hate the sort of things that you’ve done to this city. But…” Ruby finally looked over at him, her eyes watering as her bottom lip began to tremble. “I was lying when I said I hated you. I…even after all the horrible things you’ve done, I can’t…I can’t even regret being in love with y—“

                Roman dove for Ruby’s lips before she could finish, his composure breaking in an instant. She kissed him back while he unlaced his fingers from hers and pulled her closer by the waist; his other hand tangled into her hair just as his tongue tangled around her own. Roman held her lips to his a while longer before breaking away and taking her into his arms. He gasped for air for a few moments, even though he felt as if a wretched weight had been lifted from his shoulders it seemed as if every ounce of air had left with it. “I’m sorry,” he rasped softly while his arms wrapped tightly around her frame. “I’m so sorry, Ruby.”

                Roman felt himself trembling once more as he felt Ruby’s hands climb up to his shoulder blades as she returned the hug. “I forgive you,” she whispered. He let out a shaky sigh of relief, his eyes squeezing shut a moment before he let out another broken sentence.

                _“I suppose I’m not ready to let you go.”_

oooOOOooo

                It was still early morning when Ruby awoke from the dream. Dawn hadn’t even started to light the horizon, yet for one reason or the next, Ruby couldn’t get back to sleep. She supposed that the reason was, much like in the days prior, Roman had a need to rise early, and as a result, so did she. Ruby stared up at her ceiling, contemplating the end of the dream in a very serious manner until the buzzing of her scroll finally caught her attention. She rolled towards the edge of her bed and slid off, stumbling haphazardly all the way to her desk to see who in the world thought it was a good idea to text this early. When she read the message, her eyes widened a little in surprise.

                _[Guess what horrible thing I did today.]_

                Ruby blinked, hesitating only a moment before unlocking her scroll and immediately sending Roman her code message. She sighed, relaxing just enough so that when her scroll started ringing, she nearly jumped out of her skin and dropped the vibrating object. Ruby’s eyes narrowed as she recognized Roman’s caller id and she paused a second before letting out a short huff and picking up the call.

                “You better have a great reason to call this early, Bowler man,” she said a little more forcefully than she’d intended.

                _[“Uh…forgive me if I’m wrong, Red, but didn’t we just sort everything out? Or did I do something wrong again already?”]_

“Well I don’t know if you noticed, but you’re calling me at like, four in the morning!”

                _[“Ah yes, about that. I forgot to ask you something earlier.”]_

                “And you couldn’t wait until a less ungodly hour?”

                _[“Well I would think it a matter of importance…Red, if you don’t mind my asking, how many bombs went off in Beacon yesterday?”]_

Ruby’s brow furrowed at that. “One…”

                _[“Thought so. Listen, according to Perry, Cinder put two bombs in Beacon. There’s another wave set to explode today and I would guess that that second bomb is set to go off in that second wave.”]_

“So that means…”

                _[“It means that you aren’t safe quite yet. Tell Ozpin to evacuate the students and have a few bomb experts search the campus. Sadly I can’t tell you where she put it, but I could tell you where I’d think to look.”]_

“And where would that be?”

                _[“Well let’s see…which classroom got hit yesterday?”]_

                “The sparring hall.”

                _[“Right…I’d suggest checking your mess hall, Ozpin’s office, and out of curiosity, does your school have a medical ward?”]_

                “Yes…?”

                _[“Then check there too.”]_

                “Do you honestly think that your boss would want to attack a medical ward?”

                _[“Are you doubting my criminal expertise?”]_

                “I’m just not seeing the motive behind it…”

                _[“Ah…my dearest Red, you have just proven once and for all that you are not cut out for the crime business. Cinder wants anarchy and destruction, and to get that you have to strike where it hurts. So if she wants to leave you leaderless, she’ll go after Ozpin. If she wants to put a dent in your numbers, she’ll hit the mess hall. And last but certainly not least, if she’s aiming to damage your facilities and make recovery from later attacks difficult, she’ll attack the medical ward.”]_

                “I’m not sure whether or not to be concerned that you can explain that.”

                _[“What can I say? It’s an impressive skill. You know, it’s a shame that you can’t come over for breakfast. I don’t mean to brag but the eggs smell delicious.”]_

                “Roman, it’s four in the morning.”

                _[“Four forty-five, actually.”]_

                “Details,” Ruby smiled, “Either way, I’m still not hungry yet.”

                _[“Well you’re missing out on a good meal. In any case, I would tell your headmaster about the second bomb as soon as possible, if not right now. The second wave starts at the same time as yesterday.”]_

                “What about the ones in the city?” Ruby waited in silence until she heard Roman sigh audibly on the other end.

_[“Red, I…can’t tell you where those are.”]_

                “Can’t or won’t?”

_[“Can’t, unless of course, you’d like to find my corpse tomorrow morning. Matter of priority, Red. It’s bad enough that I’m risking my skin to tell you about one bomb. If anyone even remotely close to Cinder overheard this phone call, I would be so screwed over that you would be lucky to find a body by the time Cinder is done with me.”]_

                “Okay,” Ruby murmured, “I suppose that’s a good excuse. Have…have you considered the meeting at all?”

                _[“Is the offer still on the table?”]_

                “I think he’ll be willing to give you some time to figure things out after today…”

_[“Well in that case…I’m afraid I’ll need a little longer to think about it.”]_

                Ruby groaned. “Roman.”

                _[“What?”]_

                “Professor Ozpin was generous to offer his help as it is. And after yesterday I’m sure that his generosity has a shelf life.”

                _[“…Can you ask him to give me a month to think about it?”]_

                “Roman!”

                _[“Just one month. My neck is the only one at risk if I agree to that meeting and I need some more time to think it over.”]_

                Ruby sighed as she closed her eyes and rocked back and forth on her heels a bit. She considered his point a little bit—on one hand, Ozpin might be reluctant to wait that long, but on the other, Roman wouldn’t be alright with being rushed to a decision. “Fine,” Ruby mumbled as she stepped out of her dorm room, “but you actually have to consider it. Don’t just wait a whole month to say yes or no.”

_[“Reasonable enough. Well Red, as much as I’d love more time to chat, you have a headmaster to warn and I have a breakfast to eat, so I’m afraid this is where we part ways.”]_

                Ruby’s mouth formed into a thin frown as her thoughts focused on the dream from the night before, and after a slight pause she spoke up again. “Roman, wait a second.”

_[“Hm?”]_

                “What you said earlier…about not being ready to let me go…”

_[“What about it?”]_

                “I—I didn’t get to say it but…” Ruby took in a deep breath before continuing, “I’m not ready either. To give up on you, I mean.” She waited a moment for Roman’s voice to break the silence, swallowing down her anxiousness before he finally spoke up.

                _[“See you tonight then”]_

oooOOOooo

_Rosewick trash Peeves reporting in. Oh the plans I have after this, just you wait—_

_So um, this chapter was hard as balls to write and I still don’t feel too great about it, but is the best I could do and hnnnng this is it. I’m not fixing it you CAN’T MAYKE MeE. In any case. Reviews._

_So…updates? Nah, not really. You can find me at alice—with-a-bowtie dot tumblr dot com, like always…so. Rosewick trash Peeves out until next_


	22. Smile

# Smile

            It had been a long week and a half following Cinder’s first attack, and Ruby…she wasn’t handling the situations that followed all too well. Pyrrha had woken up just before they could move her to CPU, and the surgery meant to attach her new robotic leg was happening tonight. Jaune, Ren and Nora had chosen to stay in the hospital waiting room all night, and Ruby had offered to stay as well, only to be promptly booted by Weiss and Blake, who claimed that she was still far too tired after her “mysterious trip to Vale” after the shell went off.

            Yang hadn’t spoken a word in her defense, and Jaune, despite all his good intentions, had sensed the tension in the air and chose to side with Weiss and Blake. He’d pulled her aside and asked her gently, though it didn’t really soften the blow all that much. He hadn’t meant to isolate or hurt her—perhaps he was simply afraid of what Blake or Weiss would do to him if he tried to take her side. It hardly mattered now, for when she fell asleep she’d found herself in one of Roman’s apartments for the first time since the bombing—every other night since then had been in a warehouse or a some other underground hideaway, an unidentifiable location whose contents only left her more terrified, both for Roman and for the people she was supposed to protect from him.

            Ruby sighed loudly as she ambled into his room, immediately locating him by the farthest window. He gave her a quick nod of acknowledgement before pressing his cigarette back between his lips and inhaling deeply. “Do you have to smoke right now?” Ruby puffed out her cheeks childishly as she gazed at Roman with her best puppy eyes.

            “Stress relief,” he murmured simply as he exhaled, closing his eyes before speaking again. “Another job to start tomorrow…and trust me when I say that this one is the most unpleasant yet.”

            “Lovely,” Ruby grumbled as she flopped her head down on Roman’s chest. “And you can’t delay it, I’m guessing?”

            “Not even slightly,” Roman murmured, “I’d like to keep my head on my shoulders a little longer, and I think you’d appreciate that too, Red.”

            “Of course I would…” a frown marred her features as she watched him take another     lungful of smoke. “I don’t want anyone else to get hurt either, Roman.”

            “I know,” Roman exhaled and closed his eyes while he snuffed out his cigarette. One of his hands rose to pet Ruby’s hair as he leaned his head back. She watched him thoughtfully; her lips pursed and she wished for a moment that she could figure out what he was thinking. Probably something about his job, and perchance something about her. For a moment she considered the chance that he was contemplating the meeting with Ozpin, but part of her thought it unlikely.  

            “So how are the hospital chairs? Comfy?”

            “Huh?” Ruby blinked and realized that Roman was now staring down at her lazily.

            “You said one of your friends was going into surgery tonight…Pyrrha was her name, right? I thought you were planning on staying at the hospital until she got out of surgery.”

            “They kicked me out.”

            “The hospital staff?”

            “No, my team,” Ruby mumbled, “Said I was too exhausted to be there, and Jaune backed them up. I think he just wanted to avoid a fight, but that doesn’t make it feel any better.”

            “So they’re still angry with you then?”

            “Blake’s completely infuriated, Weiss is too, but a little less so, and Yang…” she trailed as her mind focused on her sister. “I can’t even read her…” Ruby pulled away from Roman and moved back towards his bed, hugging herself as she remembered just how cold she’d felt when Yang yelled at her a week and a half ago. Her sister hadn’t spoken a word to her since, and every time they wound up in a room together the older girl wouldn’t last five minutes without leaving, and if Ruby tried speak it only made her vacate the area faster.

            Yang’s nightmares hadn’t gone unnoticed Ruby—in the time since the bombing she’d rarely gone to bed before one in the morning, and had watched her sister spring up in her bed every night since the attack, her breathing labored and her eyes widened like saucers. Those nightmares…were something Ruby knew to be her fault. Ever since Russell’s death it seemed as if Yang was content with blaming Roman for the tragedy and her for continuing to love him. It didn’t matter that she hadn’t known about the attack, or that the second bombing at Beacon had been successfully averted thanks to Roman, Yang wasn’t willing to be swayed.

            Ruby let out another sigh just as she felt Roman’s arms wrap around her from behind, and she leaned back onto his chest in response. “I just want them to stop being mad at me…” she whispered.

            “Well there is a rather simple solution that you could try.”

            “If you’re about to suggest that I give up on you, stop where you are.”

            “It’s still the most reasonable option.”

            “You mean it would be the most reasonable option if not for the fact that we share the same dreams, and that I’m not ready to give up on you.”

            “Y’know, Red, you really are far too stubborn for your own good,” Roman kissed her lightly on the neck before releasing her from his arms and laying down on his bed. Ruby’s frown deepened as she followed him onto the mattress, contemplating his statement very seriously.

            “Do…do you want me to give up on you?”

            Roman held eye contact with her for a long moment before speaking. “That question has multiple answers.”

            “It should only have one,” Ruby mumbled as she leaned over him. “Yes or no?”

            Roman sighed and closed his eyes while he reached a hand up to graze her cheek. She smiled slightly and ran her fingers over his bangs. She paused a mere moment before brushing away his ginger bangs and ghosting her fingers over his right cheek. His eyes opened at the light affection, his one good eye fixating lazily on her visage as she studied the other clouded pupil.

            “Do you have some sort of fascination with my deformity?” he spoke up after a moment and she turned briefly to make eye contact with him before looking back at his right eye.

            “I just don’t understand, that’s all.”

            “What is there to understand? I’m blind in one eye, it’s a pretty simple concept.”

            “No, I get that, I just don’t understand why you hide it.”

            “Because it’s ugly and gross and just as useless if no one can see it.”

            “It’s not that bad.”

            “Red, you don’t have to lie, I’ve seen it in the mirror. The sclera is always bloodshot and sometimes the cloudy part bulges enough to look like it’ll burst. If I didn’t cover it up, people would fixate on it. Plenty of people would talk to my eye instead of me, and it would be ten times as difficult to gain respect. You can’t have a weakness that crippling in the underground.”

            “So it’s kinda like how Cardin used to always talk to Yang’s chest instead of her?”

            “I suppose that’s a decent comparison…”

            “Of course, Cardin hasn’t dared to do that since the last time when Yang punched his lights out. He won’t even admit that it hurt, he just said she hit like a girl. Me and Blake had to hold her back before she could hit him any harder…” Ruby chuckled a little bit before brushing Roman’s bangs back over his eye and leaning her head into the crook his neck.

            “We’re really bad at this ‘keeping our distance’ thing” he noted as he brought up a hand to pet her head. “Well, I’m usually alright, but you’re really awful at it.”

            “Shut up,” Ruby mumbled while she nuzzled her head further into his neck. “This helps, okay?”

            “It’s a short term solution, it just makes things worse in the long run. Kind of like a drug.”

            “So like your smoking habit, only less cancer.”

            “Not you too…I’m an adult, I’m allowed to smoke if I want to, got it?”

            “I know. It’s still bad for you though.”

            “And we’re not talking about it anymore,” Roman sighed and pulled Ruby closer to him, grunting a little as she finally flopped down onto his chest. They stayed quiet a moment; her breath hitched a little as Roman placed a few soft kisses on her neck and shoulder.

            “Roman?”

            “Yes?”

            “Do you have any siblings?”

            “Nope. I’m the only unfortunate tyke that my folks ever bothered to produce.”

            “So you’re an only child? What about Junior?”

            “What about him?”

            “He’s kinda like an older brother to you, right?”

            “He’s a close friend, that’s all.”

            “…Have you two ever had a really big fight?”

            “…Once.”

            “What happened?”

            “Well, back when I was twelve he started dating this chick that I didn’t quite care for…and I suppose I said quite a few bad things about her, so he got fed up and punched me.”

            “What?!”

            “Really hurt too, Junior was no wimp at seventeen and I was still kinda scrawny at the time.”

            “H-How did you guys make up?”

            “That, my dearest Red, is a secret.”

            “Oh come on, please?”

            “How we made up isn’t important. We made up, that’s all that matters.”

            Ruby’s eyebrows knit together as she pulled away from Roman’s neck and looked at him quizzically. “…Are you embarrassed about it?”

            “What?” Roman sat up a little and glared lightly at her. “Ruby, why in the world would I be embarrassed about a fight that happened over nine years ago?”

            “Well if you aren’t embarrassed, tell me how you fixed it.”

            “Why does it matter to you?”

            “Because…” Ruby trailed off and hung her head between her shoulders, letting out a hefty sigh before continuing. “Maybe…maybe knowing how you two worked things out will help me fix things with Yang…”

            “Yang…your sister, right?” Roman replied after a pause. “Blondie, I’m assuming?”

            “Yep,” she sniffled half-heartedly, “She hasn’t even talked to me in over a week. If we end up in the same room alone together she nearly sprints out and…I don’t know what to do…she’s never…ever been this angry with me…” Ruby hiccupped a little as she felt her eyes growing watery, and she rubbed away a few stray tears when the first fell onto Roman’s chest. She hiccupped again before he reached a hand out to lift her chin. She made eye contact with him briefly, his expression remaining impassive as he brought up his other hand to up to wipe away her tears. “I’m—I’m sorry…it’s just—we’ve always been able to talk, abo—about anything…and now she—she won’t even look at me…”

            Roman kept quiet a moment and gently brushed away more of her tears as her breathing shortened into shallow sobs. “I called his girlfriend a whore,” he finally spoke up after a moment.

            “Wh-What…?”

            “I called Junior’s girlfriend a whore, because I’d seen her with a few of their male friends and I didn’t trust her, so I called her a whore. That’s why he punched me.”

            “So then…h-how did you…?”

            “I apologized for being an impulsive brat. Honestly I was just worried because he really seemed to like her, and I thought he might abandon us for her…”

            “A-Abandon you…?”

            “Yeah, and Perry and Neo were still too young to take care of themselves at the time, along with a lot of the other little kids…what?” Roman frowned as he made eye contact with Ruby again, and her eyebrow knit together in confusion.

            “I-I don’t get it…wha-what about your parents?”

            “Did I forget to mention that my parents kicked the bucket when I was seven?”

            Ruby gazed at the man beneath with a somber stare before inhaling deeply and speaking again. “S-Sorry.”

            “It’s not your fault. If anything it’s their own fault for not paying off their debts. Now we’re gonna pause for a moment, because you…are an absolute mess, Red.”

            “B-But—“

            “Ruby.” Roman sat up entirely and pressed his lips gently against the edge of her eyelashes before trailing down to peck her on the cheek. He lingered a moment, and then pressed his lips gently against hers. They parted after a moment and he pressed his forehead against hers. “Just take a breather. Don’t hurt yourself.”

            Ruby’s breathing shuddered as he brought his hands up to her jawline, her breath catching a little while he used his thumbs to wipe away more of her tears. They sat together in silence as she slowly collected herself. She flopped her back down onto Roman’s chest as her breathing stabilized again, and he lowered himself back down to the mattress in response. Ruby knew that clinging for dear life to her feelings for Roman was only making the situation worse in the long run, but she couldn’t bring herself to lose him, especially after her teammates had essentially abandoned her.

            Was it crazy to cling to the affection of an enemy like this? Probably, just as it was very selfish of her. At this point the situation held some sort of bitter irony; the relationship that had been tearing away at her sanity now seemed to be the only thing keeping her from breaking down entirely. Why couldn’t she bring herself to stop loving him? Even with her friendships with Blake and Weiss on the line, even with Yang’s disappointment in her…Yang. Ruby frowned deeply as her thoughts focused back on her sister, and she nuzzled her head into the crook of Roman’s neck.

            “I already apologized…” Ruby murmured, “I apologized for not telling her…”

            “For not telling Yang?”

            “Yeah…”

            “Huh. Well, this may be nothing more than an educated guess, but something tells me that she’d prefer it if you apologized for falling in love with me.”

            Ruby sighed as Roman brought up a hand to pet her hair. “I…I can’t apologize for that…”

            “And why is that?”

            “Because…” she faltered a moment, hesitating to admit this thought aloud before continuing, “Because I’m not sorry about that…”

            “Really?” Roman snorted a little bit, and her brow furrowed as she glanced up at him.

            “What?”

            “You’re telling me that you have absolutely no regrets about falling for me? Hate to point it out, Red, but that sounds pretty unbelievable.”

            “Would there be any point in loving you if I was ashamed of it?” Ruby spoke sharply, winning a look of surprise from the redhead.

            “Sorry Red, but I don’t quite catch your meaning.”

            “Roman, what point would there be in loving you if I hated being in love with you? Maybe it’s not the most…ideal of situations…”

            “Biggest understatement of the century right there,” Roman yawned.

            “But if I hated how I feel about you even for a second what reason would I have to love you at all?”

            Roman stared at her for a few moments, his lips pressed into a thin line as his eyes narrowed slightly. After another brief moment, he looked away, his cheeks tinged with a very slight and somewhat uncharacteristic pink. “You are beyond strange sometimes, kid…”

            “Like you’re any better,” Ruby retorted as she rolled over on top of him. She laid there for a moment and studied his expression a little before speaking again. “Hey Roman?”

            “Hm?”

            “If…if you lost your parents at seven…why…why didn’t you go to one of the orphanages?”

            “You mean the really broken thing the government calls a foster care system? If you can avoid it you do. Unless, of course, you have a thing for emotional and physical abuse.”

            “Not all foster homes are like that…”

           “There are enough to make getting a good one lucky. Now, since we’re apparently playing twenty questions, why don’t we take a moment to talk about your childhood? How’s your relationship with the folks?”

            “…I…I’m not really sure how to describe my relationship with my dad…”

            “Fascinating. What about dear old mom?”

            “Ahhh…”

            “What? Is it really that awful?”

            “No it’s not that, it’s just…”

            “It’s just what?” Roman’s good eye fixed lazily on Ruby as she swallowed down her hesitation.

            “…She died…”

            “…Oh,” he mumbled as he looked away. He cleared his throat somewhat awkwardly before letting out another soft murmur. “…Sorry for your loss.”

            “It’s okay…” Ruby replied as the edges of her lips curled up into a tiny smile, “It happened when I was really little…to be honest I barely remember her...”

            “You still miss her though, don’t you?”

            “Everyday…”

            “So your dad’s your only parent now, huh?”

            “If…” Ruby trailed off and averted her gaze, “If you wanna call him that I guess…”

            “My, seems like someone’s glossing over a few details. Is it really that bad?”

            “No, no it’s not bad!” she refuted quickly, and Roman perked an eyebrow at her response, “I’m sure plenty of people have it worse…it’s just…after my mom died he sorta…wasn’t the same…he just…shut down...”

            “What do you mean by that?”

            “…When the news of mom’s death reached us, he…he stopped paying attention to us. Just…drowned himself in his work at Signal and forgot all about us. My Uncle Qrow and Yang ended up taking care of me in his absence…”

            “Wait a second.”

            “What?”

            “How could anyone possibly forget you?”

            “Uhh…?”

            “I mean, really, it’s downright impossible to ignore you. You’re far too annoying for that.”

            “Hey!”

            “What? Did I say something wrong?”

            “I’m not that annoying!”

            “Are you sure?” Roman put on an impish grin as Ruby fumed.

            She growled a bit as she sat up on top of him and grabbed the pillow next to him. She began smacking him with it, but the action won her little more than a few grunts and chuckles. “I…am…not…annoying!” She yelled out each time the pillow connected with his head. She paused for a moment, and Roman chuckled again as he pulled the pillow out from under his head and swatted at her with it. Ruby yelped before letting out another growl and smacking him back. Eventually Roman sat up and the pillow fight became a contest to see who would fall off the bed first, both of them hitting the other as hard as they could manage in an attempt to make the other lose their balance. Ruby laughed triumphantly as she disarmed Roman of his pillow, and he teased her with a look of mock terror before she smacked her pillow against the back of his head and sent him hurtling towards the ground by the end of the bed.

            “Whoa!” Roman put his hands out and caught himself before he tumbled headfirst to the ground, but despite his efforts Ruby pressed her bare feet against his exposed side and shoved his body off the edge. There was a loud thump as his body hit the ground, followed by a low groan. “That was highly unpleasant, what did I say about doing that?”

            “Your fault for being a meanie.”        

            “Aww, come on now, Red, I thought we were friends.” Roman lifted himself up off the ground and pouted at her. She crossed her arms and turned away from him, and he chuckled behind her. “Well, at least I got a laugh out of you.”

            Ruby’s brow knit together as he sat back down on the bed, and she looked over at him in confusion.

            “Honestly, Red,” he murmured as he leaned over to cup her cheeks, “You’re so much prettier when you smile.”

            Ruby pursed her lips and searched his expression a moment before averting her gaze. “It really doesn’t matter all that much…”

            “It definitely matters,” Roman said firmly, “I want you to be happy again, okay?”

            “It’s a little hard to be happy right now…” she murmured before he placed a tender kiss on her lips.

            _“I can wait.”_

oooOOOooo


	23. Only a Little Broken

# Only a Little Broken

            There was some small part of Yang that was still in denial. A week and a half ago the entire world had gone to hell, but some small part of her held a vice grip on the thought that everything would be okay. But everything wasn’t okay. Several minor Grimm attacks had followed the bombings of the inner city, Russell’s funeral had only been held a few days prior and since the service, a dreadful silence had settled over Beacon. _Russell_. To be blatantly honest, Yang hadn’t really cared much for the boy during his life. She hadn’t disliked him as much as Cardin, however she would’ve scarcely called him a friend. If anything they had been but mere acquaintances, so the grief she felt from his passing shouldn’t have been much.

            It shouldn’t have caused her pain, yet something about having been the first to find his body after the explosion…something about watching someone as big and brutish as Cardin break down like a baby over a few charred bones…it haunted her. Every waking hour, every sleepless night could be tied back to that moment—that and one other issue. Yang let out a low groan as she entered the mess hall behind Blake and Weiss, winning a curious look from her partner.

            “Something wrong, Yang?” the faunus girl murmured as they went to take their seats by Jaune, Ren and Nora.

            “It’s nothing,” Yang mumbled back as she stepped forward to take her seat by Jaune. Blake and Weiss probably wouldn’t understand it, after all, they were still too upset, too angry…

            “Huh? Where’s Ruby?”

            Yang’s eyes flicked up at Nora warily, frowning as if she’d just flipped the switch on a time bomb. In a metaphorical sense, one could say that she had. The very utterance of her sister’s name had become something of a curse around Blake and Weiss, and while Yang could hardly say she appreciate it, something in her couldn’t blame them.

            “Does it really matter where she is?” Weiss scoffed only moments after the curious phrase had been uttered.

            “Probably goofing off in Vale somewhere,” Blake murmured solemnly, though Yang could sense just a hint of venom laced into her words.

            “…Yang? Do you have any idea where she is?”

            Yang’s gaze shifted to Ren, whose concerned visage spoke volumes about his understanding of the situation. She swallowed down her guilt before fixing her eyes onto her plate and stabbing into her food. “No,” she replied softly, “I don’t know where she is.”

            “Oh, I know, maybe she finally realized that Beacon is still too much for her and went back to Signal where she belongs,” Weiss stated nonchalantly, “After all it’s not like we really need her here.”

            Yang’s grip around her fork tightened as she forced herself to ignore Weiss and focus completely on her lunch. Moments like these had been especially hard for her—of course, as Ruby’s sister, she wanted to punch Weiss’s lights out, but at the same time, something kept her silent. Something inside her told her that Weiss had every reason to be upset, even though she hated hearing the girl talk shit about Ruby.

            “You shouldn’t say that, Weiss.”

            Yang’s eyes shot up towards Jaune, whose hardened glare was fixed on the Schnee heiress sitting to her right.

            “Oh? And why shouldn’t I?” Weiss retorted.

            “Because it’s cruel, and it’s wrong. She earned her spot at this school just like the rest of us.”

            “She’s still too immature for this environment, and frankly I’m appalled to call her our leader,” Weiss snapped haughtily.

            “Too immature?! Will you listen yourself?! She’s your friend!”

            “Ruby isn’t our friend anymore,” Blake spoke up at that, “She forfeited that role a long time ago.”

            The table sat in silence for a moment while Jaune turned to Blake in shock, and Yang began to return to her meal bitterly before Jaune’s voice stuttered back to a shout.

            “…‘Forfeited’ my ass!” the blonde roared as he rose from his seat. “What the hell is wrong with you three?! Ever since the bombing you’ve all been treating Ruby like dirt for no good reason and I’m tired of sitting here and letting you! What gives you the right to treat her like that?! You especially, Yang!”

            Yang flinched as Jaune slammed his hands down on the table in front of her. “She is your sister, for crying out loud! And you’re letting them say this shit?”

            “We all have our reasons, Jaune,” Blake spoke sternly as she stood from her seat, “Ruby did something that we can’t forgive—“

            “Can’t? Or won’t?” Yang turned her gaze to Ren, whose impassive gaze had fixed on Blake. “I’m with our leader on this one. I assumed that maybe you and Ruby had a fight and that this would pass, but saying that she is not your friend any longer is taking it too far.”

            “You don’t know what she did, Ren,” Blake responded in a soft, strained tone. “You don’t know what she was keeping from us.”

            “What she was keeping from you?! What could Ruby have possibly…” Jaune trailed off, his voice soften to barely above a whisper. “Oh my god…she finally told you, didn’t she? That secre—“

            “Oh well isn’t that _surprising_!” Weiss declared as she rose to her feet. “She even told _Jaune_ about it before us, of all people!”

            “And what’s that supposed to mean?!” Jaune spat. “Is there some sort of issue if I did know what it was?!”

            “She was supposed to come to us first!”

            “She wanted to! And I don’t know what she was hiding because she didn’t tell us when she came to me and Pyrrha for advice! All she told us is that she had something she needed to tell you and she didn’t know how!”

            “Didn’t know how?!” Blake screamed. “Why should she have any problem with telling us the truth?!”

            “Because she was afraid!” Jaune bellowed before bringing his voice down to a venomous murmur. “You know what that’s like, right Blake? Being afraid of what your friends will think of you? Hiding the truth so you won’t be abandoned? Honestly, it sounds really, really familiar.”

            “Don’t you _dare_ compare that to this!” Blake shrieked. “It’s not the same!”

            “She was afraid because she didn’t want to lose you, she kept it from you because she cared about your feelings and she wanted to tell you because you deserved to know. And the moment you knew…you didn’t even waste a second, did you? You turned your backs on her because of some stupid grudge and I bet she needed you to understand,” Jaune’s glare hardened on Yang, and the blonde girl swallowed hard past the lump forming in her throat. “That’s sickening.”

            “Sickening?! You don’t even know the whole story!” Weiss retorted.

            “You’re right, I don’t know,” he replied immediately, “but something gives me the feeling that you don’t either.” Jaune stepped out to the other side of the cafeteria bench and leaned slightly to pick up his cafeteria tray before straightening up and glaring at Yang. “You know, I think I just lost my appetite. Let’s get out of here, guys.” Jaune began to stalk off, and as he did, Ren and Nora followed, leaving Yang, Weiss and Blake alone in the now eerily quiet cafeteria. As a cloud of whispers and murmurs crept across the crowd, Weiss and Blake slowly returned to their seats and tried to continue their meal whilst under the scrutinizing gaze of their peers.

            Yang had, at this point, given up on eating. The meal before her may as well have rotted on the plate, for she couldn’t manage to stomach another bite. She felt sick, and guilty, and so…bloody… _wrong_. The worst part was that despite wanting to agree with Jaune, she couldn’t bring herself to believe that he was completely right. Ruby was supposed to trust them…and she hadn’t. She had kept it from them for over a month. And regardless of its nature as a secret, there was still the fact that she was seeing _Roman Torchwick_ , of all people. Ruby was dating a criminal, that’s what they were angry about.

            Torchwick wasn’t a good person. Ruby should have known that. He was a thief, a con artist, for all intents and purposes, he might even be a murderer. And yet her _sister_ , who was one of the most innocent souls to ever walk Remnant, cared about him? It made no sense, Yang had tried to wrap her head around the concept so many times and no matter what, she couldn’t understand. Not getting it almost irritated her more than the concept itself—she was the one that could always understand Ruby, no one knew her sister like her. So why…why didn’t she understand?

            “…like he has any right to talk to us like that. He doesn’t know anything about what Ruby did. She betrayed us! Ozpin should have expelled her by now, but I guess he really does give her special privileges. She’s such a—“

            “Weiss,” Yang finally before rising to her feet and glaring at the girl. “Shut. Up.” Yang pulled away from the cafeteria bench and stomped away towards their dorm room. She didn’t want to hear any of it anymore. She didn’t want to hear the whispers, or Weiss’s snide remarks, even her own thoughts. She wanted to run from it, to forget about it. Ruby was her sister, she was her little sister, she was supposed to protect her. But what about Pyrrha? What about Russell? What about the injuries that Torchwick was responsible for, what about the destruction waiting outside their doorstep that he’d played a role in? Yang stormed into their room and froze immediately as she made eye contact with Ruby, who was curled up against the headboard of her bunk.

            She looked exhausted, her usual cheerful disposition seemingly replaced by somber one. Yang felt as if someone was squeezing the life out of her as her eyes wandered her sister’s form, her heart wrenched as she noticed the girl’s swollen eyes and the tremble of her shoulders. This was the result. Blake and Weiss had made her feel like this, and she was letting them. No…she was helping. Ruby let out a short, stifled breath as she slid off her bed and stumbled past Yang, her face turned away to the floor in an attempt to hide her expression from her sister.

            “S-Sorry, I’ll go…” Ruby mumbled weakly as she fled the scene, and Yang felt herself wince as the door opened then clicked shut. She wondered for a moment if her sister had felt this heavy, painful guilt each time she’d run away; she wondered if she was even at a point where she could be forgiven for this. This overwhelming guilt was threatening to eat her alive, and the worst part was that she had no idea how to stop it. Everything had become so convoluted, not a single answer seemed to lead to a decision that wouldn’t make her feel okay. If she chose to abandon Ruby, she’d never forgive herself, but Ruby…still had her heart in the hands of that asshole, Torchwick. If only she’d let him go. If only she’d stop loving him. Everything would eventually return to normal if she did that, right? So why wouldn’t Ruby let him go?

            “Why…” Yang murmured softly before falling to her knees and letting out a forlorn scream. “Why did it have to be him?!”

oooOOOooo

            Roman had started ignoring the real life consequences again. He didn’t want to think about how much he was screwing himself over, he didn’t want to think about his continued failure in finding a solution to this. Letting go of Ruby was easily the most rational option to him, but after today…he’d be hard pressed to try. It seemed that having Cinder attempt to charm him with her forked tongue only made him want Red even more, and upon entering her dreamt up dorm room, he found himself up on her bed and holding her close.

            There was something so sincere about the way that Ruby’s arms felt, it was a sort of comfort that made him feel like she could wash away his wrongs—though at times the feeling merely reminded him how awful he was. He didn’t deserve to hold a heart as innocent as Ruby’s. The brightness of her soul only cast a larger shadow onto the things he’d done, and the things he was doing. He didn’t want to think about it, he only wanted to sit here with one ear pressed softly against Ruby’s chest, his eyes closed while he committed the sound of her fluttering heartbeat to memory.

            “I thought you said you were good at keeping your distance.”

            Roman let out a soft sigh as he looked up at Ruby, whose somber expression spoke volumes about the quality of her day. “Usually it’s not too hard, but then again, usually I don’t spend the day having my boss flirt with me.”

            “She what?”

            “She flirted. Madame Seductress seems to have noticed my complete lack of loyalty to her and is trying to use her feminine charms to ground me…it isn’t working, by the way,” Roman added somewhat irritably as he realized that Ruby was staring at him.

            “Oh…okay…”

            “You didn’t seriously think I would go for her, do you? What sort of guy do you take me for?”

            “Well…you are a criminal…”

            “That is true, but consider…” Roman lifted himself up a little and leaned up towards her. “I’ve been seeing you for over a month and I still haven’t tried to cop a feel.”

            Roman smirked as Ruby’s cheeks slowly went red. “I-I—t-that’s—“

            “You are far too cute sometimes, Red,” he breathed as he leaned in to kiss her. He lingered on her lips a moment before pulling away only slightly and bringing up a hand to caress her cheek.

            Ruby’s eyes wandered his expression a moment before she let out a soft whisper. “Have…have you ever wanted to—to—“

            “Have I ever wanted to cop a feel?” Roman interjected, causing the girl to deflate a bit and let out a meek nod. He snickered a bit at her flustered face before continuing. “Something tells me that you underestimate how attractive you are.” Ruby turned her head to the side as her blush intensified, and Roman smirked while he leaned back down to kiss her on the neck. She let out a short gasp at the action and turned back to face him just as he came in to crush his lips against hers. Her hands travelled up to his jawline as the first kiss gave way to more, and Roman growled slightly as he took every opportunity to nip and tug at her lips, reveling in the tiny whines that left her each time.

            He drew a trail of kisses down to Ruby’s neck and continued the affection; his teeth grazed her skin softly until the sound of her whines intensified enough to make him stiffen. It was aggravating how much his body still reacted during the dreams, and he suppressed the urge to growl as he scoured his brain for the nearest buzzkill. Naked Cinder? No, she was still aesthetically pleasing. Junior in skimpy lingerie? Ah. It seemed some of the oldest tactics still worked quite nicely. Roman let out a short, muffled groan as he flopped down on the bed next to Ruby, causing the frame to squeak and swing a little. She rolled over and let out a snort at his pouty expression before using her fingers to fix a few stray strands of his hair. “What are you pouting for?”

            “It’s nothing,” he murmured as he closed his eyes and brought his hand back to Ruby’s cheek. Silence swept over the two of them again as they resumed holding each other; Ruby traced the contours of his face a few times before burying her face in his chest.

            “Hey Roman?”

            “Mm?”

            “I was wondering what…what your childhood was like…”

            Roman stared at the girl curled up in his arms a moment before letting out a small sigh. “You could barely classify it as a childhood, to be honest.”

            “What do you mean by that?”

            They locked eyes a moment, and Roman frowned slightly at the question. “I mean that living on the streets forces you to grow up. You don’t survive if you can’t.”

            “So you lived on the streets?”

            “Most of us didn’t really have a home to go back to, so we lived off what we could get, by any means necessary. Junior was the only one of us that had a bed to sleep in, but I’d scarcely call the den of a violet alcoholic a home.”

            “What about before then…? With your parents…I remember…you told me that you didn’t miss them…”

            “I don’t.”

            “But why…?”

            Roman hesitated a moment to study Ruby’s curious visage—he briefly wondered how she would react before sighing and averting his gaze. “I don’t miss them because they never gave a dam about me.”

            “T-That can’t be true.”

            “I figured you might say that…look Red, my parents weren’t what you would call upstanding members of society…they were drug addicts. When they were high, I was invisible and when they were sober, which was rare for both of them by the time I was five, I was the object of their torment. I was better off on the streets than I was in that household.”

            Roman could feel Ruby’s gaze burrowing into him, and he swallowed hard before she spoke again. “…so…u-uhm…w-what was it like for you then…? L-Living on the streets and such.”

            He turned his eyes back to the girl, smiling a little at her flushed and guilty looking expression. “It was a struggle,” he admitted, “but it never got boring. We had to move a lot to avoid the police, the homeless adults, gang violence, and even some of the druggies. You learned to pick what you could off the privileged wretches dumb enough to leave their wallets unguarded, or to scrounge what you could from the dumpsters. Junior did his best to provide meals and even tried to set some of the older kids with jobs, but there weren’t many places willing to be kind to a scrawny orphan with nothing to his name. By the time I was sixteen…our group of nearly fifty orphans had dwindled down to less than half of that.”

            “…H-How?”

            “Gang violence, suicide, drugs, kidnapping, the whole nine yards. No one gives a damn if the street kids disappear. They figure that we’re probably better off dying; we’ll just grow up as criminals and whores…and society’s convinced itself that they don’t need us.”

            “That’s awful…”

            “It’s just how the world works,” Roman mumbled while Ruby placed a hand on his cheek and his gaze returned to her.

            “It shouldn’t work that way…” she whispered as she pulled close to him.

            He stared at her in disbelief a moment before letting out a soft chuckle. “You know, I nearly forgot how much of an idealist you are.”

            “Hey!”

            Roman laughed a little louder as Ruby puffed out her cheeks childishly and averted her eyes from him. He grinned in response and leaned in to kiss her cheek; she turned back to press her lips against his after a moment, stringing a new kiss one after the other until she’d pushed him onto his back. “Well someone’s feeling assertive tonight,” Roman breathed as they parted, and she smiled softly in response.

            “You know I mean it, right?”

            “Mean what?”

            “I mean it when I say it shouldn’t work like that. You didn’t deserve that growing up…no one deserves to be forgotten or left behind…”

            “I turned out okay.”

            “But—“

            “Red, I’m fine. At this point I don’t care how I grew up, I’m still standing, that’s all that matters.”

            “You still didn’t deserve it.”

            Roman smiled at that and wrapped his arms tightly around her, pulling her close to his chest. He knew better than to continue caring about Ruby—he’d told himself to let her go so many times that he was almost numb to the concept at this point. Something wouldn’t let him betray her. Whether it was her sincerity or his own growing love for her…he couldn’t bring himself to lose her. He needed to find a way out that left them both intact at this point, or else…he was doomed to break with her.

            “Roman.”

            “Mm?”

            “I love you.”

            Roman’s grip on Ruby tightened slightly as he closed his eyes and focused on his breathing; one hand rose to cradle the back of her head while he pressed his lips gently against the side of her neck. He knew better than to love her. That’s what he always told himself. But in this moment, he didn’t care. He wanted to hold her forever and forget everything else; he wanted to be lost in this dream for eternity. Something had left him, and as it was absent of him so was the nagging voice telling him that this love would never be worth the risk. Roman kissed Ruby’s neck again before bringing his lips to her ear and letting only the sound of their breathing occupy the space between them. Only for a moment, they sat in near silence, before he opened his mouth to speak.

            _“Ruby.”_

oooOOOooo


	24. One Foot in the Door

# One Foot in the Door

            It never got any easier. Another week and a half passed, with every waking hour booked by a crime, with every night filled by a vision of Red, and it hadn’t gotten any easier to watch her cry. Roman rubbed his eyes blearily as he fixed his vision on the plans for his next operation—as if the stress of the job hadn’t played enough merry hell on his nerves, he caught himself missing Ruby in the waking hours, or wondering how she was holding up amid the hostile environment of her team. Their scorn for what was happening between Ruby and Roman had scarcely died down; Yang was still giving her sister to the silent treatment, and apparently the other two had begun to as well.

            “You shouldn’t nap and work at the same time.”

            Roman felt something hit the top of his hat as a familiar voice sprung up from behind him, and he turned to see Perry dressed in his full White Fang uniform. Roman managed a faint smirk at the man’s disinterested frown, pulling together his wit just enough to greet him. “Why hello Perry. Did you volunteer to be my grunt assistant again?”

            “I’m not responsible for your corpse if Cinder catches you yawning,” Perry stated flatly in response, “and no, actually. Adam ordered me to, since I’m the only White Fang member that can hold a conversation with you longer than five minutes.”

            “It’s hardly my fault that the rest can’t take a joke.”

            “It’s your fault for being an asshole.”

            “If I think calling you a little rodent is funny, I will call you a little rodent.”

            “Hm. So by that logic, can I start calling you ginger bitch? ‘Cause that’s also mildly accurate and hilarious.”

            “And that is why I like you,” Roman stated with a chuckle as he continued his work. “So what were you sent in here for?”

            “I was sent in to find out what’s distracting you so much,” Perry replied nonchalantly as he took a seat beside him.

            “I’m afraid I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

            “Hm. So I suppose you won’t mind if I tell Adam all about your little visits with that kid…what did you call her again? Was it Red?” The faunus paused and gave Roman time to glare at him before scoffing at the response. “Oh come on, you should’ve known that that little acting stunt you pulled three weeks ago wouldn’t fool me. I’ve been smarter than you since I was in sixth grade. And don’t deny it, my intelligence is all I have going for me.”

            The redhead stared a moment longer before sighing and resting his head in one hand. “How much did you convince Junior to tell you?”

            “Technically, none of it.”

            “Alright, cut the bullshit, how much did you get him to tell you?”

            “…Everything.”

            “Christ…”

            “You have Mama Junior very worried.”

            “Your subtle manipulation is not appreciated.”

            “What? Can you blame me for being curious? Less than two months ago you put that girl on the threat list yourself.”

            “This is not the sort of conversation I am alright with having here, Perry,” Roman warned.

            “And _now_ , when you tell her that you don’t give a shit about anyone, you don’t even sound that sincere,” Perry continued, “What the hell did she do to you? And don’t give me the whole ‘shared dreams’ bullshit as your response. I had enough trouble believing that was how this all started, but you really have your head up your ass if you think I’ll believe that’s the reason you suddenly got all soft and cuddly.”

            “Alright, first of all, wrong time, and very wrong place to talk about this. Second of all, I am not soft and cuddly.”

            “You are too soft and cuddly. I bet I could use you as a teddy bear.”

            “…But I’m not a bear faunus.”

            Perry stared at him for a moment, and Roman smirked at the sheer amount of disappointment emanating off the man. “That was so beneath you.”

            “What can I say? I saw the opportunity and ran with it.”

            “Are you intentionally getting me off topic?”

            “Yes.”

            “Roman.”

            “You and I both know that Junior is the only person allowed to ‘Roman’ me. I told you that this isn’t a good time to talk about this.”

            “I know you’re still seeing her.”

            “And you should know that, as strange as it is, I can’t actually help that,” Roman muttered as he turned back to the map before him and busied himself with adding his job’s details.

            “Okay, you know what? I will drop everything and tell Adam that you’re just feeling overworked if you can explain to me one thing.”

            “And what would that be, Perry?”

            “Why haven’t you backed out of this yet? I have known you for most of my life, and you have never, ever let yourself fall for anyone as high risk as this kid. You were always the most cautious about romance when we were younger.”

            “Things change.”

            “Don’t give me that bullshit. The Roman I know didn’t risk his own skin for the sake of something as unpredictable as love. What makes this so different?”

            Roman sighed and looked up from the table, hesitating a mere moment before turning to look at Perry. “Could you do it?”

            “Could I do what?”

            “Could you just back out on her?”

            “Yes.”

            “Really? If you loved her, you could distance yourself, just like that?”

            “I feel like you’re completely forgetting that absolutely nothing about the female anatomy interests me.”

            “Can you forget the fact that you’re gay for a second?”

            “I can’t just forget the fact that I’m gay—“

            “You know…what I mean,” Roman interjected, his voice heavy with exasperation.

            “Yeah, and I also know that you’ve walked out on other people before when they posed even half the risk that she does. You even walked out on me when you thought things were starting to get too serious, and you knew that I wasn’t gonna turn on you.”

            “Perry, we broke up because you always wanted to hump like rabbits and you weren’t going to be sixteen for another six months.”

            “So?”

            “…So it ended because you were horny jail bait, not because I was starting to fall in love with you.”

            “…I still got to do you.”

            “Actually I did you, and as I said before, I was very drunk.”

            Perry stared at Roman for another long pause. “You’re getting me off topic again.”

            “That tangent was entirely your fault.”

            “Are you really doing this right now?”

            “Do you want me to answer your question or not?”

            “…Okay, enlighten me. What’s so special about this vagina-wielder?”

            “Did you actually just—“

            “Answer the damn question, asshole.”

            Roman chuckled a little at the irritated faunus before resting his head on his hand once more. “She’s a pretty rare bird.”

            “Rare enough to make you fucking stupid?”

            “It’s not—I know that giving her up is my best option, Perry, I get that. But…it’s not that simple.”

            “How is it not that simple?”

            “How is it—okay, seriously, how would you fare? Maybe I’ve been able to walk away in the past, but this is not the same. Every other time, when I had the option of leaving, I didn’t have to sit there and watch the results.”

            “When have the effects of your actions ever bothered you?”

            “Never, obviously,” Roman murmured as he returned his eyes to his work. “Because I never had to think about it. I could just…turn a blind eye. But…I can’t do that with her…” Roman paused, his eyes fixated on the last scribble he’d written as he tried to mentally unravel his recent mistakes in a half-hearted search for one that started it all. He and Ruby had been holding on by a thread all this time, since the bombings…he’d admittedly spent less time considering her headmaster’s offer than he should have. True, it was his second best option, however in all likelihood, he would still land himself in jail, and he really didn’t like cages.

            “Could you do it?” he inquired absently to Perry, his eyes still fixated on the page in front of him. “Could you sit there and watch someone you care about fall apart, and do nothing?”

            “...Isn’t that what you’re doing right now?”

            Roman let out a bitter laugh; of course Perry would hit the nail on the head. “Pretty pathetic, right? I’ve let her cling to me as if we’re spiraling straight into hell together for three weeks, and it only took one five minute conversation with you to remind me that I’ve always had one foot in the door…” Roman stared at his map a moment more before standing up and shuffling towards the door. “I need a smoke…”

            “Roman.”

            “Hm?”

            “If you decide to stay with her, I’ll be here to help.”

            “…Thanks, Perry.”

            “Just know that if this gets me killed, I will haunt your ass for the rest of your sorry existence.”

            Roman snorted at that. “I look forward to it.”

oooOOOooo


	25. If You Love Someone

# If You Love Someone

            “If you love something, set it free.”

            Ruby looked up abruptly, her eyes fixing immediately on Pyrrha as she stared out the window beside her hospital bed. She frowned, her eyes traveling across the girl’s form as she noted how frail and small she look against the whitewashed walls and hospital robes. Wires and IVs clung to her right arm, feeding her the daily dosage of antibiotics and nutrients to stabilize her new leg, and providing doctors with the steady beat of her still strong heart on a monitor. Yet Pyrrha…had somehow never looked more at ease. It was as if the leg she’d lost had taken all her concerns with her, as if her weakened state had somehow served to unburden her.

            Ruby was desperate to understand the nature of her serenity. For three weeks she’d let the loss of her team eat away at her, the grief poured into her soul and she felt herself relying on an answer that she felt ashamed to say she wasn’t certain of. In a week, Ozpin’s offer expired. In a week, Roman might forfeit his right to compromise. In a week…in a week…she would have to know where her loyalties lied. She still loved Roman. A week and a half ago he might have been ready to admit the same. But now…now it had been three weeks. Now they were down to the wire and Ruby couldn’t help feeling numb, broken, crippled, and still so very lost.

            “It’s a bit of an antiquated phrase, isn’t it?”

            “Antiq—wha…?” Ruby raised an eyebrow, and Pyrrha let out a soft laugh in response.

            “It’s an old saying. Some might even think it’s overused…but I’d rather say the opposite. There have never been more honest words spoken about love…”

            “Pyrrha…?”

            “Am I wrong to think you’re in love, Ruby?”

            “Wh-What do you—“

            “There’s no use in denying it. Every so often I’ve seen that look in your eyes that I’d seen so often with Jaune. I suppose I simply learned to recognize when he was thinking about Weiss…”

            Ruby felt as if her mouth had glued itself shut, and she stared at Pyrrha dumbly as she struggled to create a response to force past her lips. Her friend didn’t seem to notice.

            “The secret you didn’t know how to confess…the one you told Jaune and I about nearly a month ago…this was it, right? Being in love was your secret…?”

            “No, Pyrrha…who I’m in love with…” Ruby faltered as Pyrrha’s gaze shifted to her. “It’s who I’m in love with that’s the secret.”

            “…Jaune told me that they know now. Your team, I mean.”

            “H-He—He did?”

            “He seemed rather frustrated about it when it came up. Said they weren’t treating you fairly…Yang especially…”

            Ruby winced a little at the mention of her sister, her gaze fell to her feet. “It’s not their fault…I—I should have told them a long time ago…”

            “I don’t think it’s anyone’s fault really. You did everything you could, right?”

            “I—“ Ruby’s voice stalled in her throat, choking on the words a moment before continuing. “I didn’t, Pyrrha. I tried to do everything on my own again, I thought I could handle it, I was—I was too scared to even trust the one person who has always been there for me…and I failed my team…” she looked up at her friend’s calm expression, feeling helpless and so very guilty about state of her friend. “I—I did betray them…and they have every right to be angry at me…”

            “Ruby…can you come here…?”

            Ruby trembled as she lifted herself out of the chair against the far wall, her legs shaking as they carried her over to the right side of Pyrrha’s hospital bed. She came to a halt beside the mattress, her body stiff as her friend lifted her torso off the headboard. She felt the weight of Pyrrha’s head hitting her stomach before she registered the arms wrapping around her torso. The tremble of her frame intensified as she became fully enclosed by the red haired girl’s embrace. “P-Pyrrha, what are y—“

            “Don’t blame yourself for everything, Ruby.”

            Ruby stiffened even further in her friend’s arms; a strangled whimper marked the space of silence between the two girls before Pyrrha continued.

            “I ended up in here because I wanted to protect the boy I love…not because of you. No matter the role you played in that explosion, I would never go back and change what I did. You’re still young, Ruby. I know you’re doing the best that you can. Nothing can change the results.”

            “But if I hadn’t—“

            “No one can live without making a few mistakes. I know you didn’t put me here, and I know you didn’t kill Russell. And even though I still don’t know everything that’s happening to you, I do know that you shouldn’t blame yourself for the things you can’t control. Sometimes, how you feel about someone is one of those things.”

            “Pyrrha…”

            “Ruby, it’s not your fault,” Pyrrha murmured again as she pulled away from Ruby, her hands traveling up to the girl’s shoulder. “None of this is your fault…” Pyrrha went silent for a moment and Ruby struggled to keep her composure as a more somber expression graced her friend’s visage. “The person you fell in love with…are you still with them?”

            “…Yeah…”

            Pyrrha’s eyes wandered Ruby’s pain-filled features before speaking again. “Do they know you love them?”

            “He does.”

            “…Does he love you?”

            “I—I—“ Ruby gasped for air for a moment. “I don’t know. I think…I think I’ve been trying to tell myself that he does, but…he’s never said it. He’s never…what if it was just me, all this time? What if he never felt the same way?”

            “…If you love something, set it free.”

            Ruby stared at Pyrrha a moment, entirely baffled as the girl’s serene expression returned, her eyelids closed over her emerald eyes as the ghost of a smile played at her lips. “W-What?”

            “If you love something, set it free. If it comes back, it’s yours. If it doesn’t, it never was,” Pyrrha paused a moment to take in a deep breath, and her eyes fixed on her friend before she continued. “Ruby…you need to let him go.”

            “I—I can’t—“

            “I’m not telling you to stop loving him. I know you can’t help that. But…you need to let him go. Give him space. If he doesn’t seek you out on his own…then it was never meant to be.”

            “But…but what if he doesn’t—I don’t know if I can…I don’t…Pyrrha I don’t want to lose him!”

            “If you don’t let him go…you’ll probably lose him anyway. Ruby, I know it hurts. It won’t be easy, but I know you can do this. You are stronger than you give yourself credit for. Let him know that you can still stand on your own…if you keep him by your side with guilt, then it isn’t love, and it never will be.”

            “Pyrrha…”

            “If he leaves you, Jaune and I will be here for you. Ren and Nora too. You don’t have to tell us everything, and we won’t expect you to. Just…don’t think that you’ll lose everything without him.” Pyrrha took Ruby’s hand and gave it a good, strong squeeze as a gentle smile formed on her lips. “You can get through this. I know you can.”

            “…Okay.”

oooOOOooo

            Ruby could no longer deny that she was scared. After weeks of feeling like Roman was her only lifeline, pulling back seemed like an impossible feat. After countless nights of clinging to the affection they still felt for one another…something about taking Pyrrha’s advice seemed counterproductive and wrong. She wasn’t certain that this was the right path. But at this point…she’d been doing nothing for far too long. This weakness wasn’t like her. Love or not, she’d always toughed it out in the past. She knew that. Perhaps Pyrrha was right. Maybe Roman needed to see that too.

            Ruby ambled slowly towards Roman’s bedroom, her fingers tracing the edge of each wall as she passed it. In all technicality, walking away entirely would be impossible. The dreams weren’t likely to end with this. This was merely the distance they constantly mentioned and failed to maintain. She halted at the bedroom door for a moment. She took the brief pause to doubt herself, to doubt that this was worth trying, before opening the door and stepping inside. Roman was waiting for her by the window, though he was, surprisingly enough, not smoking tonight. He didn’t face her until she’d fully closed the gap between them, and she found herself staring into another unreadable expression and finally filling in the blanks. She wondered if he’d always looked so ready to run away.

            Ruby hesitated a moment more, searching his expression as he looked away briefly and opened his mouth to speak. She cut him off with a kiss before he could make a sound, for selfish consideration of how much harder it would be to express her choice with words. He returned the affection immediately, trailing one hand up to her cheek as her own hands came up to his jawline. As the first kiss broke, she delivered the next, and then the next, lingering only a moment before pulling away slightly, her lips mere inches from his as they both fought to catch their breath.

            “Ruby I…I need to talk to you about something.”

            _I love you,_ came the reply she couldn’t bring herself to say aloud, and she persisted past the pain in her chest as she lifted on her onto her toes and delivered a kiss to his forehead.

            “Ruby?”

            _I love your strengths._ Her lips lingered a moment before trailing to his bangs and pressing her lips against his right cheek, just below his eye.

            _And I love your flaws._ Ruby lifted her lips away from his cheek and wrapped her arms over his shoulders, holding him closed to her.

            “Ruby what are you doing?”

            _I never wanted to let you go._ She pulled back, and at this point, her eyes had started to water, her throat was swollen and her heart was pounding in her chest as if it wanted to escape her or die trying. She wanted him to stop her. She wanted him to pull her back before she could even finish leaving and tell he’d never let her try it ever again—but whatever concern graced his features was second only to confusion. She needed to accept in this moment that he would run, and that he might not come back. That was the point of this, to accept that. Ruby let one hand linger on his left cheek, her fingers barely brushing the surface of his skin before falling away from his visage.

            She pressed the same hand flat against his chest, in the same spot where she’d scrawled her initials over and over. She paused a moment to stare at her hand, giving Roman enough time to cover it with his own hand and draw her gaze back to his face.

            “What’s wrong?”

            She couldn’t help but let out a heavy breath of relief, a weak smile appearing on her features as she tried to cut his words so deep into her memory that she could never forget them. For a single moment, she felt weightless; it was all she needed to push forward. She slid her hand out from under his until only the tips of her fingers remained. Her tears finally began to run down her face, but she forced herself to keep smiling as she backed away and broke the last bit of contact between them. She turned and started for the door, finally allowing the distance she’d been so reluctant to allow in the weeks past.

            She paused at the door frame to look back. Roman seemed almost frozen in place at the window, and beyond all her uncertainty she forced herself to smile as spoke her first and last word of the night.

            _“Goodbye.”_

oooOOOooo


	26. In the Days They Spent Apart

# In the Days they Spent Apart

            The cold sweat that he found himself that morning was almost as alarming as the content of the dream that had made it so. Despite spending the day and night prior convincing himself that he would be able to leave her, Ruby’s actions had sparked nothing short of a panic in Roman. Upon waking, his first instinct had been to reach for his scroll, his intentions all but forgotten as he scrambled to understand what had happened. He’d been afraid, both of the image of her leaving and of the fact that something he’d been so prepared for could scare him.

            Roman didn’t understand. What had possessed her to say goodbye? It had taken him far too long to find the proper answer. Far too long to recognize the meaning of her silently delivered affection. She was setting him free. She was letting him run. She was promising him that she’d be okay, and regardless of the tears he’d seen trailing from her eyes, something told him that she would be, even if he never came back.

            Some wicked part of him wanted to smile. Wanted to revel in his newfound freedom. To laugh at the concept of staying. Of chasing her. But most of him…most of him felt numb. Sure, he’d considered the cost of running, but to be honest…everything else didn’t really hit when he thought there’d be nothing left behind. He’d lose her smile, he’d lose her excitement, her kindness, even her awkward disposition…if he ran, he’d lose everything that he loved about her, and leave it for someone else to hold. He’d lose the first person…to ever love him enough to say goodbye.

            Roman curled up on his bed, confining his thoughts to whatever hours he had left before Cinder put him back to work, and really…taking a moment to consider…if he really wanted to lose that.

oooOOOooo

            _Rain._

            She could hear it pattering against the rooftop, falling so steadily that she caught herself thinking of Summershade Park…and about him.

            _Rain._

            When it began to fall in waves, she sat among the torrents. The icy sheets didn’t allow her the concentration to think of anything at all.

            _Rain._

            It didn’t give her room to think about how much she already missed him.

oooOOOooo

            She hadn’t moved. He hadn’t either. He’d found himself back in her dorm room that night, thinking that maybe they’d discuss the night prior, maybe she’d explain herself in full, maybe he’d find a reason for why he wasn’t satisfied with being free. He’d instead spent the dream staring at her back, wondering what kind of faces she was making, or what sort of dream she would be having if he wasn’t in it.

            For the first time, the dream ended, before either of them tried to say a word.

oooOOOooo

            _Rain._

            She could hear the distant drumming from the safety of her dorm. It reminded her of him.

            _Rain._

            She been forcibly contained to her bed by Jaune, who’d recognized her fever upon her return inside the day before, and had promptly scolded by telling her to find new “moping mechanisms”. She had admittedly laughed at his word choice.

            _Rain._

            She let herself listen to the drumming, and confined her thoughts to the patterns of the noise. She didn’t want to think about how much she missed him.

oooOOOooo

            The day had been frustratingly normal. Breakfast had been normal, lunch had been normal, his jobs and preparations had gone swimmingly, and no one had tried to ask him if something was wrong. He’d never expected crime to feel so monotonous and boring, to feel like busywork instead of an occupation he actually favored. He wondered if his sudden detachment was because of her. By noon he’d resorted to drinking, and with his elbows draped over The Club’s bar, he let Junior pass him beer after beer as he tried, very unsuccessfully, to convince himself that his foul mood wasn’t a result of missing her. Junior gave him the same advice as always.

            If it hurts so much, then stop running. He managed to laugh.

            Easier said than done.

oooOOOooo

            It had taken every speck of her willpower to not burst into his room. The unsatisfied craving for affection found itself eating at her brain, but she couldn’t discern if it was her love for him that was persuading her, or a simple craving to be held. Perhaps that uncertainty had helped her stay away. From the window of his den, she watched the stars and the streets below.

            But she couldn’t see either in the blank void beyond his apartment.

oooOOOooo

            His distress had hidden itself within the recesses of his work, which was diligent and unperturbed by smoking breaks, unlike the weeks prior. For some reason he’d gotten the impression that any break he took to think would result in him breaking down. So he took to his jobs, and didn’t leave himself room to consider how much he missed her.

            As soon as he got home, he’d wasted no time getting out his last pack of cigarettes and eating through it, smoke by smoke.

            It didn’t help.

oooOOOooo

            For the first time since leaving, she cried. The rain had stopped in the middle of Dr. Oobleck’s class, and the silence…had scared her. The what-ifs of her decision crept up on her like cold-hearted predators; what if he didn’t understand what she’d meant? What if he really didn’t want her as much as she wanted him? She thought she’d been ready to live with that possibility, but without the numbing effect of the rain, it was apparent that she’d been holding herself up on the idea that there was still hope for his return.

            She had been excused from class and escorted back to her dorm by Jaune, whose shoulder provided the only support to keep her off her knees. He asked her what was wrong once they’d gotten to her room and when no answer came, he provided her with something Pyrrha had told him once, his advice for “a rainy day”.

            Sometimes you have to break completely before you can put yourself back together.

oooOOOooo

            He wanted to hold her. He wanted to talk to her. He wanted to confess everything he loved about her and how much he missed her. How scared he was that in his hesitation, she was probably drifting farther away. But his feet had stayed on the ground. The air between then served as a wall, the space between the end of the other bunk beds and her mattress was a barrier he couldn’t bring himself to cross yet.

            For the third time, they waited out the dream in silence.

oooOOOooo

            Ruby inhaled a deep breath of the crisp autumn air, smiling a little as her breath left her in the in the shape of a puff of smoke. It reminded her of his cigars, of the soft scent of smoke and faded cologne that always lingered just a little on his skin. It was something that she hadn’t initially cared for but now found herself missing almost as much as the sound of his voice, the warmth of his embrace, and the crooked curl of his lips when he smiled. She watched the air rise from her lips in a daze, until a voice forced her to come back to reality.

            “Are you sure you’re okay?”

            Ruby turned in time to watch Pyrrha nudge Jaune with her one of her crutches, as this was twentieth time that he’d asked (though the answer had remained the same.)

            “HEY RUBY, WHAT KINDA PANCAKES DO YOU WANNA GET?!” Nora shouted abruptly; her cheerful smile effortlessly blocked out Jaune’s entire body before Ren carefully removed her from Ruby’s personal bubble.

            “I believe that Pyrrha will be buying Ruby a birthday cake later this evening, not pancakes,” he stated calmly

            “Aww, but pancakes would be much cooler! Oo oo! What if we get _pancake_ flavored birthday cake?! Or birthday flavored pancakes?!”

            “Nora that doesn’t even make sens—whaa!” Jaune stumbled as Nora happily latched onto him and pulled him down to her height.

            “Doesn’t it sound delicious Jaune? Pancakes that taste like birthdays?”

            “No—No-ra, you’re ch-oking me—“

            For a moment Ruby stared at the struggle for a moment before bursting out in a quiet fit of giggles as they descended further into their absurd antics.

            “Do you know what sort of cake you wanted, Ruby?” Pyrrha inquired, drawing the girl’s attention away from Jaune and Nora.

            “I was thinking…perhaps strawberry shortcake? Or maybe we could just get chocolate. I—I’m not really sure…hey, when does our movie start again?”

            “Um…about five minutes from now…”

            “WHAT?!” Nora suddenly released her death grip on Jaune and started shaking her already unsteady teammate back and forth. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner Pyrrha?! I wanted to make sure we got good seats!”

            “I’m sorry Nora,” Pyrrha chuckled as Ren peeled his partner away from her. “you were having so much fun telling us all about your adventures with Ren that I didn’t want to interrupt.”

            “Hmm…okay. But we must rush to the theater! Posthaste!!”

            “This is going to end badly…” Jaune said weakly.

            “At least we’re already outside the building,” Ren pointed out.

            “That’s true…”

            “Come on, we have to hurry!!” Nora shouted as she grabbed Jaune by the collar and sprinted towards the doors, her victim wailing every step of the way. Ren chased after his enthusiastic partner immediately, followed by a rather amused Pyrrha as they all flocked towards the doors to watch an action adventure movie that Ruby had chosen herself. Ruby laughed at their enthusiasm, hesitating only a moment before following towards the doors as well. Despite everything that had unfolded in the days prior, despite the tears that had stained her cheeks merely a day ago, she didn’t want to keep crying.

            She still loved Roman, and she still missed him, but dwelling on what was now out of her control was simply too exhausting. She couldn’t force him to come back…and she didn’t want to. Perhaps she wasn’t okay quite yet. Perhaps her heart still ached at the thought of living without him. But she hadn’t lied when she answered Jaune’s inquiries. She was getting better. Ruby skipped a little closer to the doors, but the crowd grew thicker near the doors. There weren’t many people as usual thanks to the bombings a few weeks ago, but there were enough to make her dance at the entrance, stepping in and out of people’s way until she finally bumped into the frame of a young man exiting the theater and fell back rather clumsily onto the pavement.

            “S-Sorry ‘bout that…” she mumbled as she rubbed the back of her head, but she was greeted with silence and a good view of the man’s combat boots in return. An outstretched hand clad in a fingerless glove came into view; she smiled before taking hold of it and allowing the stranger to help her back to her feet. “Thank y…” Ruby’s voice trailed off as she caught a glimpse of the man’s face. Though mostly covered by his hood, his raven colored hair fell mostly over his right eye, his mouth had turned into a small frown and his one visible eye…was the same shade of green that she’d seen again and again for so many nights.

            The soft scent of smoke and faded cologne drifted towards her as the opening and closing doors behind him gave birth to a small breeze; Ruby stalled a moment more before chuckling at herself and thinking she must have imagined it. The stranger before her wore no hat, no fancy white coat and dress pants, no ascot, and no signature smirk. His hair wasn’t even the right color. She smiled a little wider though—it had been a nice reminder of him. “Thanks,” she murmured before starting for the door, not wanting to keep her friends waiting any longer. But she only made it one more step.

            A hand had wrapped itself around her upper arm, its warm skin partially covered by the same fingerless glove that had helped her to her feet. Ruby hadn’t recognized that as what had kept her still at first, but as she came to notice it, something painfully familiar about the contact came with it. She turned back slowly, her expression contorted into a strange mixture of confusion and understanding.

            “Please don’t.”

            The voice that reached her was barely louder than a whisper, cracked little at the middle but unmistakable nonetheless. Ruby let out a soft gasp, her lips trembling slightly as the memories of the previous nights painfully resurfaced.

            “…Roman?”

oooOOOooo


	27. Happy Birthday

# Happy Birthday

            Roman should have known better than to stop her. Cinder knew where he was and what he was doing. Emerald and Mercury might have been told to follow him. He’d started to leave the theater with the intention of avoiding contact. But seeing her smile at him again…seeing her continue to smile as she walked away had caused him to panic again, and his hand had wrapped around her arm before he could give the action a second thought. He didn’t want to see her leave again.

            “Please don’t,” he rasped, internally cursing himself for how broken he sounded. He felt more vulnerable in this moment than he ever liked being.

            “…Roman?”

            He didn’t answer her; a short wave of guilt swept over him as he noticed the small tremors that began to occupy her frame and voice once she realized his identity. His intention in stopping her had never been to make her feel worse. He didn’t turn to her, fearing that seeing her expression in this moment would further remove his inhibitions and cause him to act upon his instinct more than he ever should.

            “What…What are you doing here…?”

            “I don’t think you’d like the answer to that question,” Roman answered bitterly. He hesitated a moment, biting his lip slightly before replying honestly. “Reconnaissance. One of my next jobs requires some pretty extreme attention to detail.” There was a breath of silence between them before he continued. “So what brings you to the movies? Casual night out?”

            “…Birthday party, actually…”

            “…Yours?”

            Ruby laughed a little at that. “Yeah.” She paused at length before speaking up again. “Roman, I need to go, my friends are waiting for me…”

            His grip tightened almost instinctively, not enough to hurt her, but enough to hold her where she stood. “Ruby,” he rasped as he tried to ignore the way his throat closed up in response to her words. “Please…stay.”

            “Roman…”

            “Please.”

            For a few moments, he received no answer; a moment later her tiny hands came up to greet his, softening his grip on her arm and effectively releasing her from his hold. She gave his hand a small squeeze before leaving towards the theater, and Roman couldn’t help but feel empty with her gone. He stood still, not daring to move an inch as he found himself regretting the very moment he’d let her walk away; he found himself wishing he’d taken her upon her headmaster’s offer, that he’d done anything…and everything to keep them together before running away. He regretted never tell her how much he loved her.

            “So…am allowed to ask what the biker getup is about?”

            Roman’s head swerved to his left abruptly, his eyes widening in shock as he saw Ruby smirking up at him. “It’s a disguise…” She snorted in response, and he perked an eyebrow. “What?”

            “Never thought I’d live to see the day that _you_ wore fingerless gloves.”

            “…Well isn’t that the beauty of it?” he asked a grin slowly formed on his face. “No one expects it.”

            “Sure…what did you do to your hair?”

            “Never heard of wigs?”

            “Huh. Well I have to admit, your hair is a pretty good identifier, usually. Though the hat tends to be the dead giveaway. Wait, did you…?” Ruby circled him a few times before diving for the messenger bag slung over his left shoulder, much to his dismay.

            “Aha, so you did bring it!”

            “Boundaries, Red, boundaries,” Roman mumbled as he slapped the bag shut before anyone else could see its contents. “Did you forget that we’re in public?”

            “Ahhh…oops,” Ruby smiled and kicked one foot up in the air awkwardly. “So…are you still busy with that recon thing?”

            “Mostly done now,” he replied, hesitating a moment before holding out his hand to her. She merely looked between it and him in confusion for a moment. “…Can I take you out somewhere? Since I did sort of interrupt your birthday party.”

            “…Where did you have in mind?”

            “Well there’s a mall about two blocks up the street that’s still open.”

            “And you wanted to take me there to…?”

            “Shop, obviously. Why else?”

            Ruby crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows at him, causing him to back track through his past few sentences before looking back to her.

            “Don’t answer that.”

            “Mhm.”

            “Don’t be rude.”

            “You totally walked into that one.”

            “I did not...okay, I did, but that isn’t importan—“

            “You are so full of crap!”

            “Okay, okay…I walked into it. Do you want to join me or not?” Roman leaned towards Ruby a little, and she paused slightly before taking his hand and letting him lead her down the street.

oooOOOooo

            “So…sweet sixteen already, huh?”

            Ruby glanced over to Roman, her lips turned into a slight frown as she scanned his relaxed stroll. “Yeah.”

            “Huh. I’m surprised that you’d choose to celebrate on a school night though.”

            “Well we were also celebrating Pyrrha’s return to Beacon…”

            “Oh?”

            “She was released from the hospital this morning…”

            “Hm. Well, good for her I guess…” Roman paused in the middle of the walkway, his one good eye glancing back and forth before he graced her with his usual smirk. “You know, Red, since we’re here, maybe we should play a game.”

            Ruby perked an eyebrow at that. “A game?”

            “Sure,” he smiled and leaned closer to her, “Just a little guessing game.”

            “What about…?”

            “Well…how about I try to guess your favorite stores…and if I guess them all correctly, I’ll buy you a present from a store of my choice.”

            “And if you don’t guess correctly?”

            “If I get it wrong, you get to choose your last present.”

            “Last…present…? Wait, what do you…hey wait up a minute!” Ruby called out as Roman grinned and slinked forward, leaving her behind as he quickened his pace. She jogged a little to catch up, and soon found herself following him into her favorite weapon store. She puffed out her cheeks childishly at the sight of his grin. “Lucky guess,” she mumbled.

            “Hmm…I prefer the term educated,” Roman replied as he perused through the wares and picked out some bullet casings and a few large magazine chambers. “You put together the rounds on your weed cutter yourself, right?”

            “Well, yes, but—“

            “Did I choose the wrong size?”

            “Um, yeah, the chambers are one size larger and the bullet casings are one size smaller, but…”

            “But what?”

            “How…exactly…were you planning to pay for this?” Ruby inquired softly, earning herself a minute frown from Roman.

            “I have money.”

            “And how did you earn that money…?”

            He stared at her a moment longer before closing his eyes and letting out a soft sigh. “Come on, Red, that’s really not fair.”

            “Neither is theft.”

            “Every job I’ve taken recently was on a professional level. I didn’t commit some petty crimes to fill my wallet.”

            “Did you earn any of that money honestly?”

            “Some of it’s from Junior…Red, please,” Roman leaned towards her until his lips were right beside her ear. “I’m not stealing from the store. Can you allow me a little leeway on this?”

            “…it’s still wrong.”

            “Christ, Ruby…it’s your birthday, right? Just let me spoil you a bit,” Roman pressed a small peck against her cheek, and she had to wrap her arms tighter around herself so avoid leaning towards his lips. It was aggravating, being this close to him—not because she didn’t care for him, and not because she didn’t want him back—but rather because something about the way he was acting had her on edge. It felt like…he was playing pretend. It was as if he was disregarding the three nights they’d spent alone, as if she had never left, as if he’d never let her go. As if absolutely nothing had happened. Ruby bit her lip as he lingered, contemplating his request before letting out a heavy sigh.

            “…Fine,” she murmured. “But only for tonight.”

            “I can live with that,” Roman replied as he pulled away. A small smile teased the edges of his lips while he retrieved the proper materials for her magazines and sauntered over to the cash register. With his purchase complete, he returned before her, held the bag out in front of her, and turned to the exit after she took the handles from him. She huffed slightly at his smug expression as he strolled out of the weapon store and down the walkway to her favorite book store. Roman smiled as she confirmed his newest choice, and proceeded to buy her a new fantasy novel, and a short murder mystery.

            He continued on, and a mere hour later he’d located all of her favorite shops, and had left each with a present that he’d provided to her hands before leaving, complete with the pleasant smile that made it clear that he was enjoying himself. Books, weapon supplies, dust, cookies, strawberries and little toy action figures now occupied the bags looped over her fingers as she walked beside Roman; a smile played at her lips, as the past hour had been amusing enough to make her temporarily forget her concerns about Roman’s behavior.

            “So…it’s time for me to choose the last present…” Roman mused as he glanced around the mall for a store of his choice.

            “What did you have in mind?”

            “Hmm…how about…” Roman smirked at her as he walked backwards towards a rather large clothing store to her left. Her brow furrowed slightly at his actions before she followed him in; her eyes scanned the mannequins and clothing displayed at the entrance, and Roman’s intent didn’t quite register until she realized that he’d led her straight to the lingerie section of the store.

            “P-P-Pervert!” Ruby squeaked, her face flushed scarlet as she caught up to Roman. “I don’t need you to but me underwear for my birthday!”

            Roman hesitated at that and looked up from the clothing rack he was perusing, his eyes squinted as he studied her with an exaggerated frown. “Why would I buy you underwear when I know you won’t let me see you in your underwear anytime soon?”

            “B-Because you’re a pervert!”

            “Yeah, yeah…” he mumbled as he continued shuffling through the clothing rack. “If it means anything, I was actually planning on buying you one of these…” Roman trailed off as he pulled out a silky crimson nightgown and held it up to Ruby, and despite the fact that the garment fell to just above her knees, her blush simply intensified.

            “L-Like that makes it any better!” she stammered, shrinking away from the dress when he held it out to her. “I can buy my own pajamas!”

            “Well, this is true, but I noticed that the stitching on one of your tank top straps was coming undone the other night. And you’re always talking about how grown up you are, why not have grown up pajamas?”

            “I like my pajamas!”

            “They’re falling apart.”

            “They’re still in perfectly good condition! And I can buy new ones on my own!”

            Roman let out a soft sigh, pulling the nightgown back slightly while he frowned at her. “Can you at least try it on?”

            “Why can’t you just choose a different present?!”

            “Look, if you still don’t like it after you’ve tried it on, I’ll find something else, okay? Is that fair?”

            Ruby studied him for few seconds before huffing and snatching the gown from him. “I’m not gonna like it,” she mumbled as she stomped towards the fitting rooms.

            “You don’t know that for sure.”

            “I don’t like girly things,” she retorted as found a fitting room and shut the door.

            “But you like comfort,” Roman answered from his exile on the outside of the room. Ruby elected not to answer, choosing instead to puff out her cheeks as she unclipped her cape and started to unbutton her school uniform. Her cheeks were still tinged pink—Roman was merely a room away and she was stripping into her underwear to try on this stupid nightgown. With her jacket and vest off, she kicked off her shoes and unzipped her skirt; it fell gracelessly to the floor, and she hesitated a moment before opening up her blouse and letting it fall as well.

            Ruby paused, her eyes drifting between the nightgown and her reflection in the mirror with a hint of uncertainty. Beyond her tiny hands and feet, and the slight curve of her waist, she never really felt like she looked particularly feminine. Of her team, Yang had been the only one to cater to the idea that she was still growing—Blake rarely said anything about it and Weiss was all too quick to remind her that women were usually fully matured by age of seventeen and even if they did grow more between sixteen and seventeen, it would barely be noticeable.

            Always a stark reminder that her hips probably wouldn’t get any wider, her waist probably wouldn’t get any smaller, and her chest would likely continue to be…only a few cup sizes away from flat. Most of the time those things didn’t bother her, but…she didn’t think girly things like this nightgown suited her. They only served to accentuate how very childish she still looked at the age of sixteen. Ruby let out a soft sigh and removed the nightgown from its hanger, sliding it over her head rather quickly before looking back at the mirror.

            The gown itself was quite pretty for nightwear, with lace lining the collar and the bottom hem; the silky crimson fabric gave off a slight incandescent gleam, and was cold and soft to the touch—Roman had been right about it being comfortable. But…it didn’t suit her. The loose fitting garment hid her waist and hips entirely, leaving little more than a formless rectangle over her torso and thighs. “It doesn’t fit,” Ruby murmured glumly, winning herself a reply from the man outside her door.

            “Hm? I got the wrong size?”

            “No, not that…it’s just…it doesn’t look good on me…”

            “…Can I see?”

            “…No, my bra is visible.”

            “…You could remove the bra.”

            “P-P-Pervert!”

            “Like it’s any different from the numerous times I’ve already seen you without a bra on.”

            “Don’t say stuff like that so loudly!” Ruby squeaked frantically as she cracked open the door. “Also I wear a sports bra under my jammies.”

            Roman simply smirked and leaned closer to her. “Ruby.”

            “W-What?”

            “I’m not an idiot. I know what a sports bra feels like, and I know that most of the time, you don’t wear one.”

            Ruby blubbered a bit, her face growing impossibly hotter as he smirked a little wider and leaned a touch closer.

            “So can I come in?”

            “N-No!” Ruby stammered.

            “Please? I just wanna see how it looks on you.”

            “You said you’d get something else if I didn’t like it!”

            Roman sighed at that. “Can I see how it looks before I go get something else?”

            Ruby stared him down for a moment before speaking. “What if I say no?”

            “Then I’ll just find something else I guess…” he mumbled, scratching the back of his head before continuing. “I’m not going to force you to show it to me if you really don’t want to.”

            Ruby hesitated, her eyes wandered his form and her blush died down a bit. “I’m surprised that you aren’t being more stubborn about this.”

            “When have I ever not known my boundaries?”

            “The first three nights.”

            “…Point taken. So you want me to just find something else then?”

            She stalled, biting her lip in contemplation before caving with a loud sigh, “…Fine, you can come in, just make it quick.” Ruby stepped back from the door; she hugged herself tight and averted her gaze as Roman squeezed through the door carefully to evade from anyone else seeing her. She trembled a bit—his quiet study of her appearance frankly made her feel naked (though the fact that she hadn’t removed her stockings was helping to lessen that.)

            “Well I have to disagree with you on how it looks.”

            Ruby’s gaze returned to Roman her blush still blatantly apparent on her face. “Huh…?”

            “Frankly, I think you look adorable in it, but it you’d really prefer to get something else, I’m fine with that.”

            “I-I don’t look adorable!” Ruby refuted as her face reddened once more, but Roman merely chuckled in response.

            “Now this is something I will definitely be stubborn about. You look very adorable, and nothing is going to change my mind.”

            “I…do not…look adorable!” Ruby sped forward and began aiming clumsy kicks at Roman, which he avoided easily as he laughed at her tiny bout of fury.

            “You are not making a good case for yourself, you know,” he remarked as she managed to back him into one of the corners. “You look even cuter when you’re pouting.”

            “I’m not pouting!”

            “You’re definitely pouting.”

            “Am not!”

            “Are too.”

            “Am not!”

            “Are too.”

            “I’m not!” Ruby shouted once more before Roman laughed and wrapped his arms around her waist. Her blush returned and extended all the way to her ears as he pulled her closer, her breath caught in her throat as the warmth of his arms seeped past the thin silk draped loosely over her back.

            “Perhaps we should agree to disagree,” he murmured as he pressed her forehead against hers.

            “N-No, you’re just wrong,” Ruby stammered, “I’m not cute and I’m not pouting.”

            “Whatever you say, Red,” Roman smirked before catching her lips in a kiss, one that she readily returned with every ounce of longing that she’d held back in the past three nights. Her hands crept up to his jawline as he tightened his arms around her. When one kiss broke another followed, each laced with a tiny nip or tug, and an occasional smile as they pulled each other closer. After a few more moments of the prolonged affection, their lips broke apart, and they gasped for air in the small space left between their lips. Ruby’s eyes wandered Roman’s expression a moment, and she smiled a little as she brought a hand up to caress his left cheek. But the good moment was cut short.

            Roman’s arms retreated from her waist, his hands pushed her gently away as he struggled to regain his composure, and suddenly, Ruby remembered the cold she’d felt before. The uncertainty she’d felt all night resurfaced, but this time with a clarity some small part of her wished she could ignore. Her smile vanished, her fluttering heart dropped like lead into her stomach, and her throat closed up as she struggled to keep herself from crying.

            “I should let you change back into your uniform, Red…”

            “…So that’s it, then.” She could hear Roman hesitating at the door to the fitting room, feel his gaze shift to her, but she didn’t dare to look at him as she continued. “I…kept trying to figure out why everything about the way you were acting tonight had me on edge, kept trying…to understand why it bothered me so much…but maybe I was just as aware of it as you are.”

            “Ruby…?”

            “Say hello to the read world,” she went on bitterly, “…didn’t you say that to me once? Didn’t you wish me luck finding my happy ending because everyone knows that real life is nothing like a fairy tale? Yeah, I think I get that now.”

            “Red, what are you talking about?”

            Ruby finally turned her gaze to him, and her frame began to tremble as she felt an unkempt amount of rage boil up to the surface. Because reality had come back to her, and she could see it in his eyes. Roman still looked like he was ready to run away. “Nothing has changed, has it?”

oooOOOooo


	28. Because I Love You

# Because I Love You

            He knew that he shouldn’t have pulled away. No, that was his heart speaking. He had pulled back too late. But that wasn’t right either. Roman swallowed hard past the lump in his throat as he found himself hopelessly lost in Ruby’s eyes. Her silver irises burned with an unbridled rage, effectively petrifying him at the door and stealing his voice before he could cough out an excuse for his actions—not that he had any sort of valid reason for them in the first place. After the silence stood long enough to distance them, she broke away, turning back to the discarded pieces of her uniform and collecting them as every muscle in his body locked in place at the door.

            “I can’t believe that I let you fool me,” she continued as she began to pull her skirt back up to her hips. “I just went along for the ride, like always. I bet that’s your favorite part isn’t it?”

            “Ruby…”

            “You play pretend and I’m so naïve that I play along. There’s no war in Vale, there were no bombings, Russell isn’t dead, Pyrrha was never in the hospital, you aren’t who you are and I didn’t walk away three days ago! Just play the game, and nothing bad ever happened!”

            Roman averted his eyes as Ruby pulled the nightgown over her head and reached for her blouse. “Ruby, that’s not—“

            “‘That’s not’ what? That’s not what this is? Is there something I was missing somewhere?!” she yanked her blouse back onto her arms and buttoned it as quickly as she could. “What, do you have some other reason for why if I step too close to you, you look like you want to escape? For why you have never answered me when I say I love you?!”

            “Ruby, please…” Roman felt as if he was being strangled, as if his chest was being compressed under a ton of bricks, as if the very world beneath him had grown unsteady as his entire body started to tremble.

            “If it’s not a game, then what is it? Why can’t I get close to you? Why do you always look so ready to run?” Ruby grabbed the remainder of her uniform and flung it over her arm, the nightgown all but abandoned on the fitting room bench as she started towards him. “Why do you keep pulling away?”

            Roman stared at her as his tongue glued itself to the top of his mouth, his breath barely passing as any level of normal as he tried desperately to find an answer that he knew how to explain. He was silent for too long—Ruby’s hopeful gaze had abandoned him.

            “I’m wasting my time,” she muttered bitterly as grabbed the doorknob from him and forced her way out of the fitting room. As she stormed away, Roman felt his muscles unlock, and he followed her before he could give himself time to consider another option.

            “Ruby, wait—“

            “Sorry, I’m sure you’d _love_ to play house a little longer but I have the tail end of a movie to catch. You know, with the people I was going spend my birthday with?”

            “Ruby, please don’t—“

            “You know I pretty much abandoned them at the theater when I fell for your little act. I was so excited about the possibility that something was different but that wasn’t the case, was it? You just want to make sure that someone’s still sitting in the burning wreckage when you finally decide to jump ship!”

            “Would you let me explain?!” Roman finally shouted as he caught Ruby by the wrist outside the clothing store. She turned on her heels so quickly that he didn’t have a second to catch his breath.

            “EXPLAIN WHAT?!” she bellowed. Her chest heaved up and down as she glared at him, and he shrunk back as he realized that he had nothing readily available to combat that with. He knew why he was running, he knew every reason for why he kept running even when he wanted to stay. But the answers glued themselves to the roof of his mouth, they stuck to the sides of throat and caught on the tip of his tongue. No one had ever asked him why he kept running. No one had ever let him run either. Roman let out a shuddered gasp as he stared at Ruby’s enraged expression, his features marred with every bit of fear he felt.

            “Please…please stay…” he managed to whisper, he voice hoarse as he pleaded with her.

            Her glare barely softened, and she hesitated only a moment before she continued with a softer volume. “Don’t beg me to stay if you can’t bring yourself to…”

            “Ruby—“

            “Why don’t you understand that I wouldn’t be here, right now, if I didn’t want to stay…?” she let out a shaky breath as he pressed his hands against her cheeks, but she pulled back before he could wrap his arms around her. “Please, Roman…please…just give me a reason to stay…give me a reason because loving you—loving you was the reason I left…”

            Ruby stared at him a moment longer, the rage in her visage mellowing out as her eyes started water and her lips started to tremble. He felt his breath leaving him in shallow gasps as his fear paralyzed him where he stood, and Ruby backed away before he could compose himself enough to stop her. She turned her back to him and sped away, her semblance leaving nothing more than a trail of rose petals where she had once stood. He stared at the trail as his heart hammered against his chest and caused him pain that refused to go numb. He was lost again. He was lost somewhere between his heart and his mind and there was no way out of it that he could see. He felt like he was drowning.

            “Well, that probably could have gone better.”

            Roman snapped back to reality and swerved to his left, where the familiar voice found its home in a ridiculously tall man with cropped black hair and a thick beard to match.

            “…Hei.”

oooOOOooo

            Ruby felt like an idiot. She should have known better. She should have caught on quicker, and yet it had taken her all night. Perhaps that was why she had snapped so viciously. She’d flung herself into such an enormous fit of rage…and had said so many awful things. She already regretted it; regardless of whether or not her anger had been warranted, she’d said a fair number of unforgiveable things to Roman without thinking. She’d faltered upon making it outside the mall, every malicious thing that she’d said, all the pain that she’d been masking pushed forward, and she’d fallen apart at the seams.

            Ruby had staggered to a back alley and slumped down on the wall, letting her tears take over as she sobbed rather pathetically into her hood. She thought about returning to the movie theater, but after asking Pyrrha to cover for her so cheerfully, she didn’t want to worry them by returning in such a broken state. She was still scared of losing him, almost more now that she’d spent the night with him. She leaned her head back against the alley wall and tried…as hard as she could…to convince herself that this was necessary. That she couldn’t stay if he kept running. That this was all that she could have done.

            “You know, I never expected you to leave the way you did.”

            Ruby’s eyes widened as her gaze flew back to the wall in front of her to find Roman, still clad in his somewhat overdone biker disguise. He dug a cigarette out of one his pockets and started fishing around for his lighter. She felt colder still, and before she could stop it, she felt her icy temperament leaving her body in the form of a callous remark.

            “Didn’t think I had it in me?”

            “Hardly,” he muttered as he finally located his lighter. “Leaving is easy. Anyone can walk away. It’s staying that’s difficult. I always thought that you would do everything that you could think of before giving me up. Thought that you were determined to make this train wreck work even if it was the death of you.”

            “…I wanted to.”

            “So why didn’t you?”

            “…Because you wanted to be free,” Ruby murmured as she watched him light his cigarette. His gaze met hers briefly, but flicked away a moment later, as if looking at her was too difficult for him to manage. She paused, studying his rigid frame for a long while before speaking again. “Why did you stop me, back at the theater?”

            Roman’s gaze returned to hers, his expression somber and somewhat unsettling. One hand rose to retrieve the cigarette between his lips as he bit his lip and looked down. “Because I missed you.”

            Ruby stared at him a moment longer before she too gazed towards the ground. “…If…If I asked…if I asked you what you’re so afraid of…would you tell me?”

            “…What do you mean?”

            “At first…I thought maybe you were worried about Cinder…that you were trying not to get too close because she was threatening you…or that maybe it had something to do with Ozpin and Ironwood…but it’s more than that, isn’t it?”

            She glanced up, and Roman’s lips pressed into a thin line as she continued.

            “I…can understand…why you’d be afraid of Cinder and Ironwood…but if that was all you were afraid of, then why…” Ruby swallowed hard past the lump form in her throat as her sentence trailed off. She let out a bitter chuckle after a moment. “Is it too much to ask for the truth?”

            He kept silent for a long while, his expression shifting through a gamut of emotions that she wasn’t quite used to seeing on him. He looked like he wanted to escape again, and yet his body remained stiff, as if it was paralyzed in front of her.

            She pressed further. “Why do you keep running?”

            “Are you saying you wouldn’t, in my shoes?”

            Ruby stiffened at that. “…What?”

            “If running…was the only thing that ever kept you alive…wouldn’t you run?”

            “T-That’s not…it’s not—“

            “Not the same?” Roman interjected, his voice cracked and his smile dry. “Tell me, how do you know that it’s any different?”

            “…Roman…”

            “…When I was ten, we found three of the younger orphans belly up in the river. Two days later the papers were saying they’d been sexually assaulted and I still didn’t know what that meant. When I was twelve, one of the buildings we’d been shacking up in caught on fire and some of the kids got trapped inside. When the fire department finally arrived, they took what was left of their bodies and put them in an unmarked grave in one of Vale’s cemeteries because there weren’t any adults to claim them. And when I was fourteen we pulled the naked corpse of Junior’s first girlfriend out of a dumpster a few blocks north of here, just to name a few of the times when I got reminded that none of us were ever safe.”

            “That’s…”

            “You know, maybe I didn’t miss my parents all that much when I was seven, but trust me, I missed having a place to sleep, having enough food to eat, I definitely missed not wondering whose dead body we would find next or if _I_ would _be_ the dead body, so don’t…don’t act…like giving a shit has ever done me any good…” Ruby watched in disbelief as Roman slumped down on the wall opposite her, his head hung between his shoulders as if he no longer had the strength to hold it up. “If I ever took the time to care about something, then the world would take it from me…just like it took those kids, and just like it took Junior’s girlfriend. I…have never…had anything that I didn’t lose.”

            Ruby’s lips pursed together for a moment. She let the stillness settle in their bodies, hesitating awhile before moving closer to Roman. He flinched slightly as she drew nearer to him, but it didn’t stop her from bringing a hand up to his cheek. He didn’t move to look at her, and she kept silent a little longer. Ruby knew what she wanted to say—she wanted to tell him that he would never lose her, she wanted to promise him that nothing that awful would ever happen to her. But making a promise that she couldn’t definitely keep would be just as bad as if she said nothing at all. She bit her lip, before allowing her hesitation to lift and letting a cracked whisper creep off her tongue. “I was afraid of leaving, you know.”

            Roman’s gaze rose to look at her, and she let out a shaky breath before continuing. “I was afraid that I’d lose you, that I’d lose…everything. And to be honest, I’m still afraid of losing you. I don’t want to live without you, and I…I want you to stay. But…whether or not you stay is your decision…”

            “…And if I chose to run?”

            Ruby felt her throat closing up, and she sucked in a deep breath of air before continuing. “I’d live. I might not be okay at first, but I’d get better…” her eyelids fell over her eyes as she paused to level out her breathing. It didn’t help the crack in her voice. “I chose…to accept your choice, even if I don’t like it.” Ruby opened her eyes and returned her gaze to him. “I’ll still love you either way…”

            “…And if I stayed?”

            “Then I’d do everything I can to keep you safe from Cinder and Ironwood, obviously.” The reply left her lips so quickly that Roman snorted in response.

            “Obviously?” he asked softly.

            Ruby merely nodded, and he let out a soft sigh as he rested his head on her shoulder.

            “That is a mind-numbingly simple idea, you know.”

            “I-It is not!”

            “And quite boneheaded too. I mean, on one hand, I can protect myself, on another, how exactly is a sixteen year old huntress in training going to fend off an army general and a rebellion leader?”

            “I-I’d think of something!”

            “Would you now?”

            “W-Well, I could…uh…there’s…um…” Roman started laughing at that, and she flushed bright red in embarrassment. “Meanie!”

            “Honestly, Red, sometimes you are simply too adorable…” Roman slid his head over so that his forehead rested on her collarbone. Ruby stiffened a bit as his arms wrapped loosely around her, and the silence fell like a blanket over them once more. Roman’s breathing slowly became heavier; he curled his hands into fists around the fabric of her blouse before speaking again. “I don’t know how to keep you, Ruby.” There was a small shudder in his breathing as he continued. “I always thought that…if I was going to lose anyway, I would rather take something from myself than have it taken from me…”

            “Roman…?” Ruby stared at him, her eyes widened with surprise while his grip on her blouse tightened.

            “I don’t want to lose you, Ruby…I don’t…but even if I stayed…”

            “The world won’t take me from you that easily,” she murmured softly while she raised her arms and wrapped them around his head. “And I won’t leave unless you really want me to either. It’s…it’s scary…to think of everything that could go wrong…but you know, if you let the risks stop you, you’ll never know if it could’ve worked, right?”

            “That sounds so cliché.”

            “…Maybe it’s cliché because it’s true…maybe you just need to decide…whether or not you think this is worth the risk.”

             “…You make that sound easy,” he whispered as his grip on her blouse tightened.

            “But I know it’s not,” Ruby smiled softly as she ran one hand through his hair. She felt a tremble work its way into Roman’s frame, and hesitated as she heard the strangled sound of his breath hitching. “Roman?” something warm dripped down onto her blouse, and Ruby paused only a moment more before pulling Roman’s head away from her chest, barely withholding a gasp as his expression came back into view. He turned his face from her immediately, but she still caught a glimpse of the tear stains on his cheeks. Ruby frowned and slowly brought hand to his right cheek and coaxed his visage back to face her.

            He let out another shuddered breath as she brought her other hand up to brush away a few of the tears trailing down from his eyes, and he attempted rather weakly to look away again. “I’m fine, Red,” he managed to rasp, his voice still weak and hoarse. “It’s nothing, I’m oka—“ he cut himself off as she leaned up to press a few soft kisses to the edge of his left eye. His body stiffened as she continued and pressed a kiss against his bangs, lingering only a moment before returning her lips to his left cheek. His tears steadily increased as she continued, and he muttered half-hearted protests until she pulled away just enough to press their foreheads together.

            “You don’t have to hide this sort of thing from me, you know,” Ruby murmured. “It’s fine if you need to cry, but you don’t ever have to hide it from me.”

            “R-Ruby…” Roman’s voice faltered as it left his lips, and he took a few moments to regain his composure, his hands rising up to her jaw line while he tried to steady himself. After another pause, he wrapped his arms around her, and Ruby coughed at the near vice grip he had on her frame. “…That meeting that your headmaster wanted…is the offer still on the table?”

            Ruby went rigid for a moment, her eyes widening in shock at the question. “…Yeah…”

            He let out a short breathe before speaking again. “Give me two days to get ready, okay? And I want you to choose our meeting place. Somewhere other than Beacon, preferably.” Roman pulled away from Ruby after a moment, and for a while, she found herself staring at him with a look of complete befuddlement. After the awkward gap of silence passed, something clicked in her brain and she fumbled to make a reply.

            “So—wait. Does that mean you’re considering letting him help you?”

            Roman’s eyebrows rose and he stared at her with a look of mild exasperation. “Would I take the offer if I wasn’t?”

            “I-It’s a valid question!” Ruby stammered defensively as she felt her cheeks grow hotter.

            He laughed at that. “’Valid’ my ass, that was a dumb question and you know it, Red.”

            “It doesn’t matter if it’s dumb, it’s still a valid question!”

            “So you admit that it’s a dumb question.”

            Ruby’s blush intensified as she glared at Roman’s smug face. “You are such a jerk,” she mumbled after a moment.

            “I try,” he grinned as he leaned forward and pressed his forehead against hers. “After all, your reactions are well worth the effort.”

            Ruby puffed out her cheeks as Roman leaned past her to grab her hood and the remainder of her uniform. She watched him quietly as the atmosphere regained its somberness; he separated her vest and blazer from the pile, and with the heavy silence he helped pull both back over her blouse.

            “I can’t promise…that I won’t have days when I want to run away, Ruby. It’s in my nature at this point, and well, caring about you this much is a foreign feeling for me. Always has been…” he paused a moment to retrieve her hood, throwing it over her shoulders before gracing her with a small smile. “But don’t ever confuse that for me not wanting to be with you.” Roman cupped her cheeks in his hands, and she found her eyes wandering the softest expression she’d ever seen on him. “Don’t you dare let me run from you, Red, because…” He trailed off a moment, his eyes averted as an uncharacteristic pink tinged his cheeks. His lips pursed together as he brought his gaze back to her. “Because I love you.”

            Ruby’s eyes widened as she stared at him with a look of near disbelief. There was something about this moment that made her hesitant. None of it seemed real, not the tear stains on hers or his cheeks, not the cold autumn air biting her skin, not the blazing warmth of his skin or the rough fabric of his fingerless gloves; not even the words that she’d been longing to hear. It felt as if she was still dreaming, that she’d never woken up that morning. Ruby lifted a hand to graze Roman’s right cheek, waiting only moment more before lifting up towards his lips. He leaned forward to meet her, and she felt her nerves catch fire as they had so many times before.

            The kiss lingered, and as it broke, Ruby smiled and wrapped her arms over his shoulders, holding him as close as she could manage. She didn’t want to consider the possibility that this was nothing more than an illusion. That this was something other than the truth. If she was wrong, she’d wait until later to regret it, because he…Roman had never sounded more sincere. And even after everything that had happened tonight, that was more than enough.

            “I love you too.”

oooOOOooo


	29. New Beginnings

# New Beginnings

            Ruby wasn’t quite sure what she had expected from the next dream. After her conversation with Roman in that back alley, the night had blurred together—she’d gone back spend the rest of the night with team JNPR, they’d bought cake, and then she’d returned to her dorm with some sense of numb disbelief. Up until the moment she’d fallen asleep, everything that had been said felt like an illusion, even as she found herself standing once more in one of Roman’s many living areas, she was hesitant to believe it’d been real. But…there was only one way to know that for sure.

            Ruby inhaled deeply before ambling towards Roman’s bedroom, her footsteps slow and deliberate. By the time she pushed open the door, her head hung between her shoulders, as she was both ashamed for continuing to doubt him, and afraid that the feeling wasn’t misplaced.

            “Well someone seems especially gloomy. Did something unpleasant happen after we went our separate ways?”

            Ruby looked up at him hesitantly, almost feeling even worse upon noticing the genuine look of concern on his features. Her breath caught in her throat and she averted her eyes as she spoke. “N-No, nothing happened. I’m fine.”

            “You know, if I’m going to be honest with you, I’d like it if you did the same for me.”

            She bit her lip at that, her eyes rising back to greet his before she let out a soft sigh and ambled towards the bed. “I…I was just worried, that’s all.”

            “Worried? What about?”

            “About…this,” she admitted as she lowered herself down in front of him on the bed. “I was…I thought maybe…maybe I’d just imagin—“ Ruby stiffened slightly as she felt Roman crush his lips against hers, but she relaxed into the kiss mere seconds later and lean closer to him. He pulled away only slightly, an easy smirk playing at his lips as his fingers rose up to her chin.

            “Honestly, Red, as active as your imagination is, I don’t think you could dream up everything I said earlier,” he murmured softly as he pressed his forehead against hers.

            “…Even the bit where you said you loved me?” she replied softly, her lips forming into a nervous smile just before Roman pulled away with a look of utter surprise. Her smile vanished a moment as she watched the dumbfounded man retreat, studying him carefully with slowly growing sense of concern—that is, until she realized how incredibly pink his cheeks were.

            “…R-Right…I…did say that, didn’t I…?” he murmured softly as he covered his mouth with his hand. Ruby couldn’t help but stare at him in disbelief, her words glued themselves to the roof of her mouth for a brief pause.

            “Ar—Are you…you’re blushing!”

            “I am _not—_ “

            “You never blush!”

            “And I’m not blushing right no—“

            “D-Did admitting that you love me…really make you that flustered?”

            “Being flustered is your area of expertise, Red.”

            “And yet, for once, I’m not the blushing one.”

            Roman’s eye wandered her face for a moment, a soft frown settled on his features as he studied her smirk. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

            “Maybe a little,” she admitted.

            “Rude.”

            “As if you don’t do it all the time.”

            “Well can you blame me? You’re extremely adorable when you blus—goddammit…” Roman muttered as his blush intensified.

            Ruby chuckled a little more before scooting a little closer and cupped his cheeks with her hands. “Maybe you need to calm down a little bit…” she murmured as she lifted his face and pressed her forehead against his.

            “Hm. Just a little.”

            “Never thought I’d ever see your cheeks this red.”

            “That seems to be a trend with us recently.”

            “Hm?”

            “Seeing things we never expected.”

            Ruby smiled, a frown graced her features as she rubbed her thumb gently against his left cheek. “Are…are you embarrassed by it?”

            “…Embarrassed isn’t quite the right word,” he replied softly, “I’d rather describe it as…uncertainty.”

            “That doesn’t seem like it’d be anything new…”

            “Maybe for you, but consider…you’ve been all in almost since the start of this. Like you said earlier tonight, I’ve been ready to run up until now.”

            “Finally admitting to it, are we?”

            “Alright, if you think I have ever tried to hide the fact that I’m a coward, you haven’t been paying attention for the past two months.”

            “So love is something you usually fear…?”

            “No, danger is something I fear, and you are very dangerous.”

            “Only to bad guys.”

            “Case in point,” Roman stated bluntly as he pulled away from her and gestured to himself.

            “You…you don’t count…” Ruby stammered as she bit her lip.

            “I’ve counted before.”

            “That was different!”

            “Even so,” he murmured softly. Silence fell over them again as he looked away, his arms crossed tightly over his chest while his expression ran through another gamut of emotions. “It’s…rare…that I choose to be fully honest with someone…and it’s been a…fairly long time since I’ve chosen to be fully honest with anyone…new.”

            “So…”

            “So I’m still adjusting to the concept of admitting to just how much I care about you.”

            Ruby watched him for a bit before swallowing down her own uncertainty shifting closer to him, drawing his gaze back to hers as she leaned up towards his face. She didn’t speak as their eyes met, only brought a hand up to caress his left cheek while her eyes began to search his expression. He watched her actions carefully, pulling her closer to him by the waist as she leaned ever closer. She pressed her forehead against his, their lips only a hair’s breadth away from each other before she finally spoke. “I love you.”

            Roman let out a soft chuckle, his lips cracked into a smile while his fingertips rose up to graze her hairline, his palm flat against her cheek. “I love you too.” The words came out as a whisper, soft and wavering as if he was still a little afraid to speak them. Nonetheless, she smiled upon hearing him say it again, and closed the tiny distance between their lips gently. Roman returned her kiss with a growing hunger, his hand rising to tangle into her hair as each kiss built passionately upon the next until he let out a soft growl and pushed Ruby back onto the bed.

            He tugged at her lower lip playfully for a moment before trailing his lips down to her neck; she gasped in response and wrapped her arms over his shoulders, holding him close as he grazed his teeth against her neck. After a few more soft nips, he held onto her a little longer, sucking her skin into his mouth and making her whine as she arched up against him.

            He let out a heavy breath as he released her neck. “God I’ve missed you…”

            She giggled at that while he pressed a few soft kisses into her neck. “Well of course you’d miss having someone to cuddle.”

            “Hmm…nice try, but I’ve hugged wooden boards more cuddly than you.”

            “Hey!”

            “Red, you know I’m kidding,” Roman smirked as he rose up from her neck and pressed a soft kiss against her lips.

            “It wasn’t funny,” Ruby grumbled as she puffed out her cheeks childishly, making him laugh and lower his head back down to the crook of her neck.

            “You are far too cute when you pout…ah, oops. Well that’s one thing I didn’t mean to do…”

            “What?” Ruby sat up a little, only to find herself bewildered as Roman smirked and poked her in the neck. It felt a little painful, and for some reason it also felt like the last spot he’d bit her.

            “You’re starting to get a hickey,” he replied with a chuckle, and she blinked before glancing over at him in confusion.

            “…You gave me a hickey?”

            “Oops.”

            “…Haven’t you done that before?”

            “I…don’t think so…”

            “Huh. Well since they’ll be gone by tomorrow…” Ruby bit her lip a little and Roman inched back cautiously.

            “Why do I get the feeling that I’m about to be mauled?”

            “What? Can’t I return the favor?”

            “Please don’t return it twenty times?”

            Ruby pouted a little at that before flipping Roman onto his back, frowning as he watched her in amusement. She let out a little growl before leaning down over his neck, grazing the skin with her teeth and leaving a trail of little nips and kisses as she went. She pressed a few more kisses into his neck, smiling as his hands rose up to press flat against her back before biting down a little harder. Roman groaned softly as she sucked the skin of his neck into her mouth, and she could feel his hands balling into fists around her night shirt as she let go of his neck with s pop. She grinned and held herself up on his chest.

            “I bet I could sign my initials on your neck like that,” she challenged.

            “Unless you want to accidentally lose all of your clothing, I do not recommend that…”

            Ruby blushed at that. "C-Come on, does it really excite you that much?"

            "Well…no…but it would probably excite me enough to get me to grope you."

            Ruby felt her cheeks heat up further, and She heard Roman laugh as she hid her face in her arms. "T-T-That wouldn't be…a—all that bad…"

            "Oh? Is that so?"

            "But now is not the time!" Ruby announced loudly as she pulled her head up again. "We need to talk about your meeting with Ozpin."

            "Ah…that. Did you talk to him about it?"

            "Mm…not yet, I was going to tomorrow, but I wanted to ask you about possible meeting places."

            "My only preference is that we don't meet at Beacon."

            "So…I can choose a public place?"

            "That's…actually a pretty good idea. If I went in disguise I'd be fairly safe."

            "Have you decided on a bargaining chip?"

            "How about the next five locations that Cinder will be and the next ten local areas that she was planning to strike?"

            "Sounds pretty fair to me, but what if he wants more than that?"

            "Well it's a good thing Cinder doesn't know that I've betrayed her yet."

            "Oh. Well maybe I can advertise that as a bargaining chip?"

            "If you want to. But…there was one other request I wanted to make for the meeting."

            Ruby frowned slightly at that. "What's the request?"

oooOOOooo

            They hadn't spoken with Headmaster Ozpin since the meeting roughly a month ago, and with how Weiss and Blake had been acting, Yang honestly hadn't wanted to. But when Glynda had asked them to visit his office, there was hardly any room for refusal. After a few tense minutes of silence in the hallway, Weiss spoke up as they reached the elevator.

            "So. Do we have any idea what we've been called for?"

            "Probably something about Ruby," Blake said bitterly as they all stepped into the elevator.

            "That's not definitely a bad thing," Yang noted.

            "She was pretty torn up on Monday," Weiss added with a hint of uncertainty, "so maybe they're not together anymore?"

            "That doesn't change the fact that it happened in the first place."

            Yang sent a warning glare at her partner as the elevator opened on the top floor and they stepped into Ozpin's office. "You wanted to see us, Professor?" She addressed the man standing by the window, his back facing them as he watched his school below. He turned slightly as she spoke, pausing only a moment before turning to face them.

            "Yes, well…it seems that I've been asked to relay a request to the three of you," Ozpin replied as he sat down at his desk.

            "What, is our leader still not capable of talking to us?" Blake remarked flatly, winning herself another harsh glare from Yang.

            "I suppose you expected her to be able to talk to you when you weren't willing to listen, Miss Belladonna? I may not have spoken with the four of you directly in the past month, but I am well aware of how you've all been treating Ruby. However, with that said, this request is not on behalf of your leader. The request is apparently from Roman Torchwick himself."

            "You've had contact with Torchwick?!" Weiss blurted out abruptly.

            "Through Ruby, of course, but yes, I have had contact with him. Why I have not mentioned it before is something I was just about to explain, if you're willing to hear me." Ozpin folded his hands on the desk and directed his gaze at Blake. Yang's eyes followed suit. And the girl retreated slightly towards the door before Weiss put a hand on her arm and spoke in her stead.

            "What's the request?"

            Ozpin smiled softly and closed his eyes as he spoke again. "This Friday I am meeting Torchwick to negotiate the terms of his surrender."

            "You're WHAT?!" all three girls gaped at their headmaster, whose expression remained even with a mere hint of amusement.

            “Why would you schedule a meeting with a criminal that Ironwood wants on death row?!” Weiss shouted.

            “And you expect us to believe that he’d just surrender?!” Blake added, “How do you know that he’s not making that up just to get a pardon for his crimes?!”

            “Roman Torchwick may have valuable information about his employers,” Ozpin replied calmly, “If he is willing to risk himself to deliver it, then I’m not one to complain about any of his motivations.”

            “What do you mean by his ‘employers’?” Yang inquired softly.

            Ozpin’s gaze traveled to the blonde girl and held there for a pause before he closed his eyes and reached for his coffee cup. “I’m sure by now you’ve noticed. You all remember that during the bombing three weeks ago, two bombs had been set to go off within our walls?”

            "Yeah, and Torchwick knew about them," Blake noted, making her headmaster shake his head in disagreement.

            "He didn't. The only reason we were able to find and locate the second bomb was thanks to an educated guess on his part," Ozpin folded his hands together in front of his mouth, "and even in the case where you think that is pretense, neither he nor any White Fang member has had access to our school halls."

            Yang's eyes fixed on her headmaster's desk as she considered this. "…So…someone else planted those bombs…but Professor Ozpin, he still could have hired someone to—"

            "That is a possibility, true, but I personally see it as an unlikely one. Torchwick has been a criminal in Vale for quite some time, and from what I've gathered from police reports on him prior to this year, none of his most recent crimes fit his usual aims. And as a further to that…Ruby herself claims that he's not working out of his own free will."

            "You really think Ruby is a reliable source?" Weiss scoffed.

            "At the moment she has yet to prove otherwise."

            "Right," Blake muttered flatly as she turned towards the elevator.

            "Miss Belladonna," Ozpin addressed the girl as he rose from his seat, "I don't believe we've finished speaking."

            Blake chose not to answer and pressed the elevator call button, causing her headmaster to let out a soft sigh. "Very well…I can see that you're in a hurry…it would seem that Torchwick wants one of you three at our meeting."

            Yang's eyes shot towards Ozpin in bewilderment, and his gaze locked with hers as he continued.

            "He apparently would prefer it if Yang went, but any of you insisted on going instead, well, the offer is open."

            "Why…why me?" Yang asked.

            "He refused to give a reason, according to Ruby, but he insisted on it, apparently. I'll give you until Friday to discuss this for yourselves. By then I expect to see one of you at Beacon's entrance after school. Is this reasonable enough for the three of you?"

            “It’s fine,” Blake murmured as the elevator arrived and she stepped into it. Weiss hesitated only a moment before following suit, leaving only Yang somewhat bewildered and frozen in front of his desk.

            “Professor, why does he want me to come with?” she repeated

            “I’m afraid I cannot tell you what I do not know, Miss Xiao Long,” he replied softly before raising his coffee cup to his lips. Yang frowned deeply at that, and after a brief pause she followed her teammates’ lead and turned for the elevator. But she only made it another step when Ozpin spoke up again. “Ah yes, I nearly forgot. Miss Xiao Long.”

            “…Yeah?”

            “Would you be so kind as to wish Ruby a happy birthday for me? I’m afraid I haven’t yet found the opportunity to do so myself.”

            Yang jolted and looked back at Ozpin, her lips pursed as she stared at him. Her eyes fell to the floor after a moment. “Sorry but…we…we still aren’t on speaking terms with Ruby…”

            “…I see. I would have thought her birthday might come as an exception, after all, you only turn sixteen so many times, but…if it is still not within your comfort, I suppose I’ll just have to ask Jaune to send my regards. I needed to call him up to my office in a little while anyway…”

            “…Thanks,” she mumbled as she strode hastily towards the elevator door. As Blake finally hit the lobby button and they began their descent, Yang found herself wondering if his goal had been to make her feel guilt. To remind her that yesterday her sister had turned sixteen, and the only gift she’d received from her own teammates was silence. To remind her that when Ruby had broken down on Monday, the ones who rushed to her side hadn’t been her teammates. It wasn’t as if she didn’t deserve the stabbing reminder that she had all but abandoned her baby sister, not as if the disdain for their actions wasn’t warranted. But Yang…Yang was still on the fence. And she needed time, or some sort of miracle, to change that.

oooOOOooo

 


	30. PSA

**ALL FICS PSA**

So…before you all lynch me for faking you out, yes, this is not a story update. This is an update on the state of things, a tell all to let you know where in production stage my stories are and to update you on the state of my life and why it’s taking so long. So. To begin with the latter…for those of you not already aware, I’m a college student, and as of last semester, an upperclassman. Now last semester I had six classes and that was the reasoning behind my packed schedule, this semester I’m back down to five but I’m also working two jobs and I’m prepping for a school trip to California and doing an amount of work to follow a class I’m not in during my free time.

I’ve had about…no time to sit down and write in the past month and a half so nothing is being written right now. In fact, for now it is safe to assume that unless I say otherwise (and even if I say otherwise let’s be honest here) nothing is in production between late August and mid-December, and nothing is in production between mid-January and early May. So that’s the state of my life right now, for those of you that have been asking. As for those of you who have been asking about my fics (mostly about, surprise surprise, Still Dreaming), I’m gonna list the state of each of my fics below here, so if you’re waiting on more than one and your inbox is flooded with emails about this one chapter for all of them (Sorry m8) you only have to check one fic to know the state of all of them. So the list goes as follows:

 

  1. **Still Dreaming:** and after over a year of time to work on it and all the fans asking, the 30 th chapter of Still Dreaming is…! …not started yet. I…I’m really sorry guys. I have the entire thing planned out, it’s gonna be super long, its gonna tie everything up, it will be the last chapter of this fic and…my muse is completely uncooperative. Now I write fast once my inspiration strikes so I will try to work on and get it done for this coming winter break, but I know myself well enough to not make promises.
  2. **In the Arms of a Thief:** So I actually finished of the rough draft of the upcoming chapter a few weeks ago, but life got busy and my keyboard is currently sticking on several keys so transcribing it onto a computer has been a grueling process
  3. **The Worst Timing:** Much like the readers of Still Dreaming I’m sure all of you are either tired of waiting or no longer interested. Unfortunately, much like Still Dreaming, I have not started the next chapter, and honestly I can’t remember where I was going with it. In all likelihood if I can’t remember I might pull this story from my library so as not to immerse any other poor souls in it only to leave them hanging (if you still want access to the story you should be able to download it and if you can’t just pm me)
  4. **And Hope Died with Her:** Well I have the chapter number written! -kicks self- Okay so honestly this one is extremely uncomfortable for me to write and I struggle to make decisions on it. It might be pulled like The Worst Timing
  5. **Team RRBY:** y’all should know that I posted this prematurely, before I was ready to focus the necessary amount of energy on this au. I want to work on this, and the second chapter is started I just…am very busy.
  6. **Grimm:** Like RRBY, the second chapter is started. It’s just not complete.
  7. **Delusions of Grandeur:** So if you’re on AO3 you might have noticed that this is your second update today…sorry, that’s because I kept forgetting to post the most recent chapter. Either way, you’ll be pleased to know that this fic is the most up to date—the last update is recent even on ffn and the next 14 chapters are planned out.
  8. **Frozen Hearts and Stolen Peaches/Neighbors:** I know that between both of these groups there are maybe 20 of you so I’m just combining the section, because it’s pretty much the same message. The next installment is started. Just sit tight
  9. **Spelling Lessons:** …I am so sorry. I’m actually overhauling and restarting this because when I started it, there weren’t that many episodes out for Little Witch Academia and I had six classes that slowly drowned m and kept me from writing. I based most of my decisions on headcanons that now have, for the most part, been disproven, so I’m going back and playing with the plot a little more. For the sake of it, the first chapter will likely remain the same. The second is up in the air.



 

And that’s everything. I hope this clears everything up. I’ll be back as soon as I can.

**Author's Note:**

> Rosewick trash Peeves reporting in. So I get that the concept of this story may seem a bit weird and like it’s severely messing with the laws of Remnant’s reality [in all likelihood, it probably is] but allow me to clarify the basics. I got tired of seeing a bunch of kidnapped-Ruby fics and the like but couldn’t find any non-kidnapped-Ruby fics with a premise that actually appealed to me. So this concept popped into my head, which is quite simple: Ruby and Roman begin having the exact same dreams at the exact same time. How? Because magic. Why? Soulmates, voodoo, witchcraft, karma, weather, I dunno, choose-your-own-reason. Where am I going with this? Haven’t the foggiest guys. I’m only doing it for science. What science, you ask?
> 
> …
> 
> CHEMISTRY.
> 
> Rosewick trash Peeves out til next chapter.


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